2 flood insurance claims·$14,515 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 Hutchinson 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 risk profile in Hutchinson County, Texas. According to the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, the area has recorded 23 flash flood events and 5 general flood events, which resulted in 2 deaths. Severe weather impacts are frequently driven by upper-level storm systems interacting with frontal boundaries and instability across the Texas Panhandle. For example, a vigorous upper-level storm system and frontal boundary produced multiple rounds of severe weather and flooding on May 20, 2019. Additionally, isolated to widespread thunderstorms generated minor flooding across the region on September 21, 2019.
Federal flood insurance data indicates risk extends beyond high-risk coastal or riverine areas, with NFIP records showing 2 claims filed in moderate-to-low risk Zone X, resulting in an average payout of $7,258 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in Zone X should pay attention to these localized flood risks, as heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms can produce standing water and property damage even outside designated high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas.
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 2 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Hutchinson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1989, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Double S Fire | Mar 18, 2025 |
| Smokehouse Creek Fire | Feb 27, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Harbor Bay Fire | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Double Diamond Fire | May 11, 2014 |
| Reimer Fire | May 29, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Apr 6, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 21, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 20, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 20, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 17, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 21, 2019. Isolated thunderstorms developed during the afternoon across the central Texas Panhandle, producing hail. Thunderstorms became more widespread during the evening across the southeast Texas Panhandle and produced minor flooding.
Flash Flood · May 20, 2019. A vigorous upper level storm system followed a favorable track for Panhandles severe thunderstorms as it crossed southern Nevada and moved east into the Desert Southwest. A frontal boundary in the area and the storm system led to significant wind shear and instability across the area. This led to two rounds of severe weather occurred across the Texas Panhandle on the 20th. A combination of supercell storms and…
Flood · May 20, 2019. A vigorous upper level storm system followed a favorable track for Panhandles severe thunderstorms as it crossed southern Nevada and moved east into the Desert Southwest. A frontal boundary in the area and the storm system led to significant wind shear and instability across the area. This led to two rounds of severe weather occurred across the Texas Panhandle on the 20th. A combination of supercell storms and…
Flood · May 17, 2018. Perturbation off the mean 500 mb flow downstream of a small amplitude ridge axis provided a late morning round of thunderstorms for the northeast TX/OK Panhandles. As a result, some severe criteria hail was reported. The more widespread thunderstorm activity happened on the afternoon of the 17th. A dryline setup across the western and central combined Panhandles with SE surface flow around 30-40 kts and 500 mb flo…
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 Hutchinson 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.