3,306 flood insurance claims·$109.1M paid·16 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 Liberty 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 heavy rainfall events dominates the flood history of Liberty County, accounting for 56 out of 66 recorded flood events over the last 30 years. NOAA storm records document severe impacts from these systems, including widespread flash flooding during a derecho in May 2024 and heavy rainfall associated with an offshore low pressure system in January 2022. Tropical systems also pose a significant threat, as demonstrated by Tropical Storm Nicholas in September 2021, which brought widespread rainfall totals of 6 to 10 inches to the Southeast Texas Coast.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood damage is not restricted to high-risk areas. Zone X leads the county with 1,581 claims averaging a $46,835 payout with an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, followed closely by Zone A with 1,337 claims averaging a $34,589 payout with an average water depth of 5 inches. While shaded Zone X properties account for only 5 claims, they recorded a high average water depth of 31 inches and an average payout of $67,758. Homeowners in both mapped high-risk flood zones and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to these risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Liberty County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,369 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 5 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 590 claims and $39.3M 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.
23 NOAA storm reports from Liberty County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
38 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 16 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Beryl | Jul 5, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Tropical Storm Imelda | Sep 17, 2019 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 22, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 56 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 8, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 13, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 19, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 19, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 19, 2019 | $95.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 16, 2024. On the evening of May 16, a derecho moved into SE TX. This resulted in extensive wind damage across much of the Greater Houston area, including much of Downtown Houston. Maximum wind gusts were estimated to have reached over 100 mph. Additionally, the system produced two tornadoes and widespread flash flooding. Power outages resulting from the derecho lasted multiple days for hundreds of thousands of people.
Flash Flood · Jan 8, 2022. Scattered thunderstorms associated with the approach of an offshore low pressure system produced several tornadoes on the evening of January 8 and the early morning of January 9. These tornadoes resulted in several instances of property and tree damage across the Greater Houston Area. Some non-tornadic storms also produced strong, damaging wind gusts. Later, heavy rainfall associated with continuing thunderstorm a…
Flash Flood · May 17, 2021. Thunderstorms producing heavy rain resulted in flash flooding across portions of SE TX.
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…
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 Liberty 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.