30 flood insurance claims·$773,271 paid·8 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Cass County, Texas. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from severe weather systems dominates the flood risk profile in Cass County, accounting for 32 out of 36 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 3 standard floods and 1 tropical storm.
Severe weather events have frequently impacted the area, such as a linear mesoscale convective system that advanced southeast into the region on June 3, 2024, and widespread deep convection that occurred along an outflow boundary on March 15, 2024. Additional significant events developed on April 4, 2025, and February 12, 2020, driven by stationary fronts, low-level jets, and persistent showers over wet soils.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates that flood impacts extend across multiple zones. Zone A recorded 9 claims with an average payout of $17,948 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone X_SHADED also recorded 9 claims, with a higher average payout of $35,297 and an average water depth of 4 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED logged 7 claims with an average payout of $50,752 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 3 claims averaging $8,311 with a 3-inch average water depth, and Zone UNKNOWN had 2 claims averaging $17,857 with an average depth of 1 inch. Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated special flood hazard areas and shaded or unshaded Zone X areas should pay close attention to these historical payout and water depth patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
64% of Cass County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
25 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2009, with 11 claims and $451,061 paid.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
18 NOAA storm reports from Cass County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Beryl | Jul 5, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 17, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 7, 2016 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
36 since 1996: 32 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Dec 8, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. A stationary front extended across portions of Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas during the early morning hours on April 4th, but lifted north into Southeast Oklahoma and Western Arkansas during the day. This was in response to an intensifying low level jet that developed ahead of a large upper trough that extended from the Intermountain West into the Plains, which provided the necessary lift across the very…
Flash Flood · Mar 15, 2024. Strong and deep convection became widespread over the Ark-La-Tex and downstream portions of southern Arkansas on March 15th. This occurred along an outflow boundary on the southwestern flank of a decaying MCS, and a favorable environment encouraged increased training over several hours. The mesoscale environment was characterized by ML CAPE of 1000-2000 J/kg, PWATs of 1.5-1.8 inches, and deep layer shear of 30-50…
Flash Flood · Jun 3, 2024. A linear mesoscale convective system (MCS) advanced southeast into the Ark-La-Tex from Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening hours on June 3rd. A pocket of strong instability was present ahead of the line, where MLCAPE values ranged from around 2500 to 3500 J/kg range and surface dew points were in the 70s. Instability along with strong large-scale ascent associated with a vorticity maxima and low-level conver…
Flash Flood · Feb 12, 2020. Areas of showers remained persistent across much of the Ark-La-Tex through much of the day on February 11th, along the subtropical jet stream that extended over much of Texas and the Lower Mississippi Valley ahead of a strong upper level low pressure system just off the Northwest Baja California coast. These rains primed the already wet soils on the 11th, before the low pressure system began to eject northeast and…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Cass County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.