States With the Most Flood Disasters

Federal disaster declarations mark the most severe flooding events — those serious enough to warrant federal assistance. Texas leads the nation by a wide margin, with its combination of Gulf Coast hurricanes, Hill Country flash floods, and river flooding across vast watersheds generating more declarations than any other state.

A high number of disaster declarations doesn't always correlate with the highest claims. Some states experience frequent but moderate flooding, while others see fewer but catastrophic events. The declarations below include all flood-related types: riverine flooding, coastal storms, hurricanes, and flash floods.

Rank	State	Flood Disasters	Total Disasters	Hurricane Disasters
1	Iowa	729	1,926	99
2	North Dakota	727	1,423	0
3	Minnesota	719	1,623	87
4	Texas	655	5,389	1,370
5	Louisiana	567	2,670	1,450
6	Missouri	522	2,830	115
7	South Dakota	516	1,469	0
8	Kentucky	494	3,355	120
9	California	492	1,686	64
10	Nebraska	376	1,586	93
11	Pennsylvania	349	1,252	274
12	Washington	347	1,034	0
13	Illinois	325	1,313	102
14	West Virginia	313	1,336	141
15	Arkansas	312	1,824	168
16	Virginia	281	2,756	877
17	Tennessee	268	2,038	95
18	Indiana	233	1,581	92
19	Oklahoma	225	2,593	77
20	Colorado	224	667	0
21	New York	223	1,537	284
22	Wisconsin	209	895	73
23	Kansas	186	1,910	105
24	Oregon	163	637	0
25	Ohio	159	1,292	90
26	Michigan	156	819	83
27	Montana	146	646	56
28	Vermont	128	405	42
29	Mississippi	125	2,129	745
30	Maine	115	1,065	50
31	Utah	107	259	0
32	New Mexico	105	543	33
33	Alabama	104	1,742	678
34	Florida	99	2,791	1,432
35	Idaho	93	370	44
36	Arizona	83	346	15
37	New Jersey	74	627	193
38	Alaska	73	354	0
39	Maryland	64	471	151
40	North Carolina	63	2,431	1,304
41	Georgia	62	2,765	1,031
42	New Hampshire	61	320	50
43	Massachusetts	60	414	108
44	South Carolina	57	1,187	621
45	Nevada	25	289	17
46	Wyoming	25	136	0
47	Connecticut	17	266	96
48	Hawaii	15	110	22
49	Delaware	4	53	22
50	Rhode Island	0	123	43
51	District of Columbia	0	24	6

Source: OpenFEMA NFIP Claims, Policies, and Disaster Declarations data.

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States With the Most Flood Disaster Declarations

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