8,673 flood insurance claims·$186.4M paid·15 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 Nueces 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 dominates the flood history of Nueces County, accounting for 236 out of 322 total flood events recorded in the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, alongside 3 deaths. Other recorded hazards include 37 general flood events, 20 coastal floods, 17 storm surge or tide events, 11 tropical storms, and 1 hurricane. Recent events illustrate this pattern, such as heavy downpours from scattered showers and thunderstorms that caused isolated flash flooding in downtown Corpus Christi in September 2025, following similar storm-driven flooding events in May 2025 and July 2025.
Federal Emergency Insurance Program records demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones, led by Zone A with 4,635 claims averaging $46,223 in payouts and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties recorded 2,081 claims averaging $11,263 with an average water depth of 3 inches, while standard Zone X properties saw 1,277 claims averaging $33,159 with an average water depth of 5 inches. Shaded Zone X recorded 305 claims averaging $20,415 with an average water depth of 4 inches, and coastal Zone V recorded 213 claims averaging $28,568 with an average water depth of 5 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in high-risk Zone A and coastal Zone V, as well as property owners in unshaded and shaded Zone X areas experiencing significant claim frequencies, should pay the closest attention to these risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
33% of Nueces County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
7,234 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 2017, with 3,736 claims and $145.4M 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.
141 NOAA storm reports from Nueces County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 15 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 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Hurricane Hanna | Jul 25, 2020 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Tropical Storm Alex | Jun 27, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
322 since 1996: 236 flash floods, 37 river or area floods and 37 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 8, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 22, 2025. Thanks to plentiful moisture (PWATs between 1.6-1.9 inches) and embedded shortwaves aloft, scattered showers and thunderstorms led to heavy downpours, which caused isolated flash flooding in downtown Corpus Christi.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2025. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the early afternoon of July 9th across the Coastal Plains and Brush Country. This activity was due to a combination of factors: some atmospheric energy skirting the edge of a ridge in the Gulf, the arrival of the sea breeze, and abundant moisture in the region. A few of these thunderstorms caused isolated instances of marine wind gusts and flash flooding.
Flood · May 8, 2025. A cluster of storms in La Salle County progressed southeastward through the evening hours. These storms intensified and developed into a well-organized MCS with a maturing bow echo feature as it extended into northeastern Duval and Jim Wells counties. An uptick in radar velocity was noted beginning north of San Diego, TX around 8:45pm CDT, with large wet melting hail enforcing a notable stronger surge of northwest…
Flash Flood · May 8, 2025. A cluster of storms in La Salle County progressed southeastward through the evening hours. These storms intensified and developed into a well-organized MCS with a maturing bow echo feature as it extended into northeastern Duval and Jim Wells counties. An uptick in radar velocity was noted beginning north of San Diego, TX around 8:45pm CDT, with large wet melting hail enforcing a notable stronger surge of northwest…
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 Nueces 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.