12,876 flood insurance claims·$1.0B paid·12 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 Orange 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 recurring heavy rain events dominates the local flood profile, accounting for 64 recorded events and 10 deaths over the last 30 years compared to 13 general flood events and 1 death. Recent occurrences illustrate this pattern, including an event on May 16, 2024, caused by an upper trough parked over the region for nearly a week, and an event on April 29, 2024, when thunderstorms produced flooding in areas that had not completely drained from earlier rainfall. Additional flash flooding occurred on June 1, 2024, from an unstable airmass interacting with upper disturbances, and on June 11, 2024, when a frontal boundary stalled along Interstate 10.
National Flood Insurance Program records show significant claim volumes across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 4,192 claims with an average payout of $94,743 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Shaded and unshaded Zone X areas also experience substantial impacts, with unshaded Zone X recording 3,190 claims averaging $105,673 and 7 inches of water, shaded Zone X recording 2,593 claims averaging $98,386 and 11 inches of water, and general Zone X recording 2,305 claims averaging $92,208 and 5 inches of water. Homeowners and real estate professionals in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to these historical payout and water depth averages when evaluating property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
58% of Orange County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
9,978 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 8 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 4,395 claims and $466.3M 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Orange County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 12 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 Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Tropical Storm Imelda | Sep 17, 2019 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 7, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
77 since 1996: 64 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 25, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2023 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 29, 2024. A line of thunderstorms moved across Southeast Texas causing another round of heavy rain and severe weather. This produced more flooding in areas that had not completely drained from rain earlier in the month.
Flash Flood · Jan 25, 2024. A slow moving storm system affected the region with multiple days of heavy rain and a few severe storms.
Flash Flood · Jan 24, 2024. A slow moving storm system affected the region with multiple days of heavy rain and a few severe storms.
Flash Flood · May 16, 2024. An upper trough parked over the region for near a week. Short waves kept traversing the base of the trough for the duration of the event causing several days of unsettled weather. Some days produced severe squall lines with numerous reports of damage.
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 Orange 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.