187 flood insurance claims·$1.6M paid·13 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
From the National Weather Service, checked just now. Every active flood alert in the U.S. →
WHAT. Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible.
WHERE. A portion of south Texas, including the following areas, Aransas Islands, Bee, Coastal Aransas, Coastal Kleberg, Coastal Nueces, Coastal Refugio, Coastal San Patricio, Duval, Goliad, Inland Kleberg, Inland Nueces, Inland Refugio, Inland San Patricio, Jim Wells, Kleberg Islands, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces Islands and Webb.
WHEN. From Saturday afternoon through Monday morning.
IMPACTS. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS. - Widespread forecast rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches will be common across South Texas with high end amounts approaching 5 inches. Isolated amounts exceeding 5 inches remains a possibility, especially in the vicinity of training and slow moving storms. While soils will be able to absorb most of this moisture, the higher rainfall rates can quickly lead to localized, urban flooding and in locations with poor drainage. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
What to do.
You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
Is your address in the flood zone? Search it above for FEMA’s zone and base flood elevation. A new flood insurance policy usually takes 30 days to start (NFIP rule; exceptions include a policy bought when closing a mortgage), so one bought during a flood generally won’t cover it. Homeowners policies don’t cover flood.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Jim Wells 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 summer thunderstorms and tropical systems dominates the flood character of Jim Wells County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 64 flash flood events, 10 general floods, 4 tropical storms, and 1 tropical depression. Recent recorded events include Tropical Storm Alberto in June 2024 and Tropical Storm Harold in August 2023, as well as a slow-moving disturbance in July 2023 that produced 4 to 8 inches of rainfall from north of Alice southwest to Benavides, causing road flooding near and south of San Diego.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data show impacts across multiple zones, indicating that flood risk extends beyond high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 79 claims with an average payout of $9,058 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Shaded Zone X recorded 31 claims with an average payout of $18,444 and an average depth of 3 inches, while unshaded Zone X recorded 26 claims with an average payout of $21,544 and an average depth of 4 inches. Standard Zone X properties logged 24 claims with an average payout of $14,114 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Properties with unknown zones recorded 25 claims with an average payout of $4,168 and an average depth of 3 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay close attention to properties in both high-risk Zone A and the various Zone X designations, where significant claims and standing water depths have been documented.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
41% of Jim Wells County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
138 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 2015, with 37 claims and $743,364 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds and Flooding.
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.
30 NOAA storm reports from Jim Wells County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 13 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Hanna | Jul 25, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 19, 2018 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Hurricane Alex | Jun 30, 2010 |
| Tropical Storm Alex | Jun 27, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
79 since 1996: 64 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Aug 22, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 22, 2023 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Jul 7, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2021 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 19, 2024. Tropical Storm Alberto was a very broad and unorganized storm that developed across the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Alberto eventually made landfall between the hours of 4-7 AM on June 20, 2024 near Tampico, Mexico. The system brought a variety of hazards to the region, including storm surge, heavy rains, strong winds, and a couple isolated tornadoes. Significant coastal flooding, around 3 to 3.5 feet of inundati…
Flood · Aug 22, 2023. Tropical Storm Harold moved west across south Texas on the 22nd. An area of low pressure developed over the central Gulf of Mexico on the 21st. A large area of high pressure over the central United States into the northern Gulf Coast steered the system quickly westward toward the Middle Texas coast. The low strengthened into Tropical Storm Harold by the early morning hours of the 22nd. Harold increased in strength…
Tropical Storm · Aug 22, 2023. Tropical Storm Harold moved west across south Texas on the 22nd. An area of low pressure developed over the central Gulf of Mexico on the 21st. A large area of high pressure over the central United States into the northern Gulf Coast steered the system quickly westward toward the Middle Texas coast. The low strengthened into Tropical Storm Harold by the early morning hours of the 22nd. Harold increased in strength…
Flood · Jul 7, 2023. A slow moving upper level disturbance interacted with deep moisture over south Texas to produce thunderstorms over the inland Coastal Bend during the early morning hours of the 7th. Thunderstorms producing locally heavy rainfall remained over the inland Coastal Bend for several hours. Rainfall amounts ranged from 4 to 8 inches from north of Alice southwest to near Benavides. This caused flooding of roads near and…
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 Jim Wells 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.