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 Cochran 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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Cochran County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 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 Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Wildfires | Apr 6, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Mar 14, 2008 |
| Extreme Wildfire Threat | Nov 27, 2005 |
| Hurricane Rita | Sep 23, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
10 since 1996: 9 flash floods and 1 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jul 9, 2015 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2004 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 3, 2001 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 3, 2001 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 1999 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 27, 2023. Late in the afternoon into the evening of the 27th, a couple of supercells moving east-southeast out of eastern New Mexico produced severe weather in the western South Plains. One of these supercell thunderstorms produced tornadoes in eastern New Mexico before moving into Yoakum County. As the storm tracked across Yoakum County, it produced a brief tornado northwest of Plains and severe hail in the city of Plains.…
Flash Flood · May 23, 2022. Returning Gulf of Mexico moisture into the South Plains of West Texas fueled widespread severe thunderstorm development across the region on the afternoon and evening of the 23rd. Moderate to strong instability developed across the western South Plains and eastern New Mexico Monday afternoon and evening as the improving low-level moisture and temperatures warming into the 80s developed beneath an approaching upper…
Flash Flood · May 14, 2021. A weak upper level short wave approaching West Texas combined with a surface dryline in eastern New Mexico to create scattered severe thunderstorms on the evening of the 14th. Initial development of thunderstorms was in eastern New Mexico close to where the dryline was located in the afternoon hours. With weak wind shear in the atmosphere, thunderstorms slowly moved eastward into West Texas on the development of a…
Flood · Jul 9, 2015. A slow-moving line of thunderstorms exited eastern New Mexico this evening and produced heavy rainfall and strong winds across the western South Plains and southwest Texas Panhandle. Severe winds from a microburst were measured at Lazbuddie. In Cochran County, training storms for nearly three hours produced an estimated four to six inches of rain in a swath about seven miles west of Morton and Lehman. Late this…
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 Cochran 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.