133 flood insurance claims·$8.3M 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 Fayette 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 events dominates the flood history of Fayette County, Texas. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 79 flash flood events resulting in one death, alongside 9 general flood events resulting in one death, and 2 tropical storm events. A recent example of this pattern occurred in January 2024, when a stationary boundary across central Texas combined with an upper-level trough and moist air to generate several rounds of locally heavy rain over a three-day period.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend across different mapped areas. Properties in Zone A have accounted for 79 claims with an average payout of $75,115 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have accounted for 43 claims with an average payout of $73,336 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. An additional 11 claims are recorded in Zone UNKNOWN, with an average payout of $20,983 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within both designated high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas (Zone A) and moderate-to-low risk areas (Zone X), as both zones have accumulated significant historical claim counts and substantial average water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Fayette County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
79 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 10 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 2017, with 57 claims and $6.0M paid, the year of Hurricane Harvey.
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.
21 NOAA storm reports from Fayette County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 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 And Flooding | May 22, 2016 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 17, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Wildfires | Aug 30, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
90 since 1996: 79 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 18, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 14, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 31, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Oct 31, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Aug 27, 2017 | $50.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 27, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jan 24, 2024. An upper-level trough remained nearly stationary over the western US resulting in southwesterly flow over Texas. A stationary boundary stretched across central Texas with anomalously moist air south of the boundary. A series of shortwave troughs moved through the upper pattern generating several rounds of locally heavy rain over three days. There was also some large hail.
Flash Flood · May 8, 2023. Thunderstorms developed in a weakly capped, conditionally unstable airmass along an old outflow boundary. Some of these storms produced large hail and localized flash flooding.
Flash Flood · May 18, 2021. An upper level low moved slowly across the southwestern US and generated several rounds of thunderstorms over South Central Texas. Storms during this period produced two tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail, and heavy rain that led to flash flooding. Most of the severe weather occurred in two periods on May 18: the early morning and the late afternoon and evening.
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…
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 Fayette 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.