7,389 flood insurance claims·$449.7M paid·11 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 Fort Bend 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 frequent severe weather events dominates the flood profile of Fort Bend County, supported by decades of NOAA storm records. Over the last 30 years, the county recorded 56 flash flood events resulting in 5 deaths, alongside 4 tropical storm events and 1 hurricane event that caused 3 deaths.
Recent history illustrates these localized hazards. In June 2020, slow-moving lines of showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall that caused flash flooding across portions of the county over several hours. Later, Tropical Storm Nicholas brought heavy rain bands with 6 to 10 inches of rainfall to the region in September 2021, accompanied by strong wind gusts and widespread power outages.
National Flood Insurance Program records show significant claim activity across multiple zones, indicating that property owners outside traditionally designated high-risk areas also face substantial flood exposure. Zone X recorded 4,895 claims with an average payout of $98,253 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone A accounted for 1,966 claims averaging $85,136 with an average water depth of 5 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in both high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk zones should pay close attention to these historical claim patterns and water depth averages when evaluating property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Fort Bend County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
2,261 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 4 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 3,977 claims and $363.5M 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Fort Bend County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1983, 11 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 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Hurricane Hanna | Jul 25, 2020 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 22, 2016 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 17, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 56 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 13, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 19, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2019 | $30,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 13, 2021. Nicholas formed on September 12 in the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico, slowly advancing northeastward along the Middle Texas Coast. It eventually made landfall 10 miles west of Sargent just after midnight on September 14, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 75 mph. Heavy rain bands associated with Nicholas brought widespread rainfall totals of 6 to 10 inches to the Southeast Texas Coast, while strong wind gusts res…
Flash Flood · Oct 1, 2021. A cluster of showers and thunderstorms developed over SE TX during the morning of October 1, producing periods of heavy rain across the area. Heavy downpours resulted in several instances of street flooding making roads impassable.
Flash Flood · May 1, 2021. A series of thunderstorms resulted in flash flooding in Brazoria and Fort Bend counties.
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2020. A slow-moving line of showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain across the Houston metropolitan area. This led to instances of flash flooding to the Southwest of the city of Houston over a period of several hours.
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 Fort Bend 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.