227 flood insurance claims·$5.8M paid·9 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 DeWitt 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 DeWitt County, supported by 105 flash flood events alongside 19 general flood events, one tropical storm, and one hurricane over the last 30 years. Storm activity is driven by meteorological systems such as an outflow boundary moving inland from the coast in June 2025, and upper-level troughs generating slow-moving thunderstorm lines that produced heavy rain and flash flooding in May 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond designated high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for the highest volume of historical claims with 156 filings averaging $28,715 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Meanwhile, properties outside primary flood zones also experience losses, including 29 claims in Zone X averaging $41,699 with an average 3 inches of water depth, 15 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaging $29,498 with an average 3 inches of water depth, 25 claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaging $19,621 with an average 4 inches of water depth, and 2 claims in Zone X_SHADED averaging $4,232 with an average 3 inches of water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated high-risk zones and moderate-to-low risk zones 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.
10% of DeWitt County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
173 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 6 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 1998, with 57 claims and $2.3M paid, the year of Tropical Storm Charley and Flooding 10/18/98.
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.
34 NOAA storm reports from DeWitt County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Beryl | Jul 5, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Hurricane Ike | Sep 7, 2008 |
| Hurricane Gustav | Aug 27, 2008 |
| Extreme Wildfire Threat | Nov 27, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
126 since 1996: 105 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 14, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 12, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Aug 28, 2017 | $3.0M |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 26, 2017 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 24, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 14, 2025. An outflow boundary moved inland from the coast and generated thunderstorms over the Coastal Plains. Some of these storms produced locally heavy rain that led to flash flooding.
Flash Flood · May 13, 2023. An upper level trough moved over a moist, unstable airmass and generated thunderstorms. Storms initially formed over the higher terrain in Mexico and moved across the Rio Grande into Texas. Some storms produced damaging wind gusts. Storms eventually congealed into a slow-moving line that produce locally heavy rain leading to flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Oct 14, 2021. A complicated weather pattern developed over South Central Texas when a dryline and cold front moved out of West Texas as an upper level low moved into the Central Plains. At the same time the remnants of Pacific Hurricane Pamela moved across northern Mexico. The airmass over the region was warm and moist with near record precipitable water values. This set up led to an excessive rain episode with considerable fla…
Flash Flood · May 12, 2020. A mesoscale convective vortex developed overnight and with daytime heating generated strong thunderstorms during the morning. Some of these storms produced tornadoes and heavy rain that led to 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 DeWitt 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.