10 flood insurance claims·$33,018 paid·1 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 Deaf Smith 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 thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Deaf Smith County, accounting for 19 recorded events compared to 6 general flood events over the last 30 years. Localized heavy rainfall can produce rapid water accumulation, as demonstrated on May 27, 2023, when slow-moving thunderstorms dropped rainfall rates of two to three inches per hour over an area that had received upwards of three inches the previous night, leading to fast-rising waters over Hereford and surrounding areas. Severe storms also moved through the county on June 4, 2025, accompanied by large hail and a weak tornado.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones. Zone A recorded 4 claims with an average payout of $3,364 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $927 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone X logged 2 claims with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $21,071 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A and Zone X_UNSHADED, where claims have resulted in higher average payouts and significant recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 1 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 5 claims and $11,370 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Deaf Smith County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1992, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
25 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 4, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jul 17, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Mar 22, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Aug 8, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Oct 4, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 4, 2025. During the early to late evening hours on the 4th of June severe thunderstorms moved through the southwest to south central Texas Panhandle. The main supercell that moved in first from eastern New Mexico, quickly intensified in Deaf Smith County, where it briefly produced a weak tornado that overturned a couple of irrigation pivots. The storm then continued to produce ping pong ball to even an instance of baseball…
Flash Flood · May 27, 2023. The end of May was unusually warm and moist this year. With abundant moisture and lift late in the evening of the 26th a couple of storms that were long lived and slow moving developed across portions of Deaf Smith County. These thunderstorms produced rainfall rates around 2��� to 3��� an hour over an area that received upwards of 3��� the night before. This led to fast rising waters over the tow…
Flash Flood · May 26, 2023. During the late evening of May 25th a line of thunderstorms moved into the northwest combined Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles moving south to southeast into much of the western combined Panhandles. One of the storms became severe producing hail upwards of 1.5 in diameter near Texline, Texas. As this line of storms continued southward, discrete supercell storms developed in eastern New Mexico around the I-40 corridor…
Flood · Jul 17, 2021. On the evening of the 17th of July 2021, thunderstorms formed over higher terrain in northeast New Mexico and southeast Colorado. These storms moved southeast into the combined Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles. The atmospheric instability was sufficient to support a few severe storms with large hail and damaging winds in addition to locally heavy rainfall.
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 Deaf Smith 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.