48 flood insurance claims·$1.7M paid·2 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 Clay 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 driven by severe thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Clay County, Texas, accounting for 16 of the 25 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 9 standard flood events.
NOAA records illustrate this pattern, noting multiple rounds of severe convection and flooding on April 29, 2025, as well as widespread showers driven by a lingering front and cut-off low on June 1, 2016, and June 2, 2016.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties in Zone A should pay the most attention, recording 28 claims with an average water depth of 11 inches and an average payout of $38,295. Additionally, properties in Zone X experienced 11 claims with an average water depth of 2 inches and an average payout of $84,280, while 8 claims in unknown zones averaged 2 inches of water depth with an average payout of $20,804, and 1 claim in Zone X_SHADED recorded an average water depth of 0 inches with an average payout of $50,182.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Clay County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
29 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 8 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 1990, with 15 claims and $542,036 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding.
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.
1 NOAA storm reports from Clay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1979, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Wildfires | Aug 30, 2011 |
| Mcdonald 2 Fire | Jun 19, 2011 |
| 148/2332 Fire | Apr 14, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Apr 6, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
25 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 2, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 2, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Aug 19, 2008 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 19, 2008 | — |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2007 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2007 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 29, 2025. Multiple rounds of severe convection and flooding occurred from the predawn hours of the 29th into morning hours of the 30th. The most significant round of severe thunderstorm activity occurred across portions of western-north Texas on the evening of the 29th, where intense supercell thunderstorms produced very large hail, damaging wind gusts and a pair of significant (EF-2+) tornadoes.
Flood · Jun 2, 2016. With a front lingering in the region and a cut off low moving overhead, scattered to widespread showers formed across Oklahoma and north Texas the morning of the 1st and continued through the 2nd producing some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 2, 2016. With a front lingering in the region and a cut off low moving overhead, scattered to widespread showers formed across Oklahoma and north Texas the morning of the 1st and continued through the 2nd producing some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 1, 2016. With a front lingering in the region and a cut off low moving overhead, scattered to widespread showers formed across Oklahoma and north Texas the morning of the 1st and continued through the 2nd producing some flash flooding.
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 Clay 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.