13,035 flood insurance claims·$632.8M 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 Montgomery 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 severe thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Montgomery County, TX, supported by 71 flash flood events resulting in four deaths over the last 30 years, alongside hurricanes and tropical storms. Recent impacts include a series of disturbances in January 2024 that caused widespread home flooding, extensive high water rescues, and a fatality, as well as cumulative damages from wind and heavy rain events in late April and early May 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show significant vulnerabilities across multiple zones. High-risk Zone A accounts for 5,191 claims with an average payout of $71,268 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. However, moderate- and low-risk areas also face substantial risk, with Zone X recording 4,986 claims averaging $61,026 and an average water depth of 7 inches, and shaded Zone X recording 244 claims averaging $44,010 with an average water depth of 5 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in both designated high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A and seemingly lower-risk Zone X areas, where historical claims demonstrate that severe rainfall events frequently cause damaging property inundation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Montgomery County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
6,430 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 6 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 2,445 claims and $248.4M 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.
21 NOAA storm reports from Montgomery County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
39 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 14 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Pauline Road Fire | Mar 19, 2025 |
| 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
80 since 1996: 71 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 2, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2024 | $6.4M |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 19, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 30, 2024. Severe thunderstorms moved across the area and produced hail, some wind damage and a little bit of flooding.
Flood · Jan 24, 2024. A series of disturbances moved across the area resulting in numerous flash flood events that resulted in the flooding of many homes, extensive high water rescues, and a flood-related fatality.
Flash Flood · May 2, 2024. A series of disturbances moved across the area and produced flash flooding and severe thunderstorms.
Flood · May 1, 2024. A series of wind and heavy rain events hit the area in late April and early May leading to significant damages. These entries include cumulative dollar damage estimates primarily from the flood events as reported by the counties.
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 Montgomery 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.