States With the Most Flood Disasters

Federal disaster declarations mark the most severe flooding events — those serious enough to warrant federal assistance. This table covers FEMA declarations from 1953 to 2026. 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. Hurricane counts include only major disaster declarations (not evacuation or emergency assistance).

Rank	State	Flood Disasters	Total Disasters	Hurricane Disasters
1	Iowa	729	1,926	0
2	North Dakota	727	1,423	0
3	Minnesota	719	1,623	0
4	Texas	655	5,389	561
5	Louisiana	567	2,670	806
6	Missouri	522	2,830	0
7	South Dakota	516	1,469	0
8	Kentucky	494	3,355	0
9	California	492	1,686	6
10	Nebraska	376	1,586	0
11	Pennsylvania	349	1,252	126
12	Washington	347	1,034	0
13	Illinois	325	1,313	0
14	West Virginia	313	1,336	31
15	Arkansas	312	1,824	18
16	Virginia	281	2,756	424
17	Tennessee	268	2,038	0
18	Indiana	233	1,581	0
19	Oklahoma	225	2,593	0
20	Colorado	224	667	0
21	New York	223	1,537	99
22	Wisconsin	209	895	0
23	Kansas	186	1,910	0
24	Oregon	163	637	0
25	Ohio	159	1,292	2
26	Michigan	156	819	0
27	Montana	146	646	0
28	Vermont	128	405	14
29	Mississippi	125	2,129	421
30	Maine	115	1,065	19
31	Utah	107	259	0
32	New Mexico	105	543	0
33	Alabama	104	1,742	265
34	Florida	99	2,791	883
35	Idaho	93	370	0
36	Arizona	83	346	0
37	New Jersey	74	627	88
38	Alaska	73	354	0
39	Maryland	64	471	80
40	North Carolina	63	2,431	556
41	Georgia	62	2,765	557
42	New Hampshire	61	320	20
43	Massachusetts	60	414	41
44	South Carolina	57	1,187	268
45	Nevada	25	289	0
46	Wyoming	25	136	0
47	Connecticut	17	266	52
48	Hawaii	15	110	10
49	Delaware	4	53	13
50	Rhode Island	0	123	22
51	District of Columbia	0	24	3

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

FloodZoneMap.org

States With the Most Flood Disaster Declarations (1953–2026)

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