115 flood insurance claims·$1.5M paid·7 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 Lavaca 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 driven by stationary upper-level weather patterns and slow-moving thunderstorm lines dominates the flood character of Lavaca County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 104 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 9 general flood events and 3 tropical storm events. Recent recorded incidents include multiple rounds of locally heavy rain driven by stationary troughs and moist air masses in January 2024, as well as slow-moving thunderstorm lines that produced flash flooding in May 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A face the highest frequency and severity of impact, accounting for 79 claims with an average payout of $19,416 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Properties in shaded Zone X also show notable vulnerability with 29 recorded claims, averaging $5,241 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and shaded Zone X, as these areas demonstrate the highest concentration of historical flood claims and recorded water intrusion.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
28% of Lavaca County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
110 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 3 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 1981, with 33 claims and $799,907 paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
32 NOAA storm reports from Lavaca County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 7 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 |
| Hurricane Ike | Sep 7, 2008 |
| Hurricane Gustav | Aug 27, 2008 |
| Extreme Wildfire Threat | Nov 27, 2005 |
| Hurricane Rita | Sep 23, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
116 since 1996: 104 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 7, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 14, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 26, 2017 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2015 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Jun 16, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 20, 2012 | — |
— = 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 13, 2023. An upper level trough moved over a moist, unstable airmass and generated thunderstorms. Storms initially formed over the higher terrain in Mexico and moved across the Rio Grande into Texas. Some storms produced damaging wind gusts. Storms eventually congealed into a slow-moving line that produce locally heavy rain leading to flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jan 7, 2023. An upper level shortwave trough brought a cold front through South Central Texas. Thunderstorms developed along this boundary and some produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding.
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 Lavaca 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.