60,620 flood insurance claims·$2.4B paid·14 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 Galveston 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 storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Galveston County, supported by a frequent mix of coastal flooding, tropical storms, and storm surge events over the last 30 years. Recent weather history underscores these threats, including evening storms in April 2024 that produced widespread flash flooding, tornadoes, wind damage, and hail. Additionally, coastal flooding impacted the upper Texas coast in June 2024 as a potential tropical cyclone developed into Tropical Storm Alberto.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A properties have experienced the heaviest claim volume with 34,765 filings averaging a payout of $53,647 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Coastal Zone V properties face severe inundation risks, registering 7,200 claims with an average recorded water depth of 21 inches and an average payout of $39,089. Meanwhile, moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas have accumulated thousands of claims, including 8,949 claims in Zone X averaging 3 inches of water depth and $61,832 in payouts, 6,607 claims in unshaded Zone X averaging 2 inches of water depth and $25,573 in payouts, and 2,998 claims in shaded Zone X averaging 3 inches of water depth and $42,196 in payouts.
Homeowners in coastal Zone V and high-risk Zone A properties should pay the closest attention to impending flood events, alongside residents in Zone X areas who remain vulnerable to accumulating water depths during severe storms.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Galveston County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
51,570 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 2008, with 22,606 claims and $1.3B paid, the year of Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike.
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.
47 NOAA storm reports from Galveston County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 14 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 Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Hurricane Hanna | Jul 25, 2020 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 22, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
153 since 1996: 107 flash floods, 1 river or area floods and 28 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 12, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jan 9, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 30, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 12, 2025. Storms occurring overnight, producing damaging winds, flooding and brief tornadoes.
Coastal Flood · Jan 9, 2025. Coastal flooding occurred on the Bolivar Peninsula on January 9th.
Flash Flood · Apr 29, 2024. Evening through overnight storms produced a lot of flash flooding, a couple tornadoes, some winds damage and some hail.
Coastal Flood · Jun 19, 2024. A Potential Tropical Cyclone became Tropical Storm Alberto as it moved generally westward across the southern Gulf of Mexico and made landfall in the Tampico area. Coastal flooding occurred along the upper Texas coast.
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 Galveston 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.