6 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 Red River 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 severe storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Red River County, accounting for 50 of the 54 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, while standard floods comprise the remaining 4 events.
Heavy rainfall events frequently result from warm fronts, stationary boundaries, and tropical moisture systems. For example, a stationary front and intensifying low-level jet produced heavy rainfall on April 4, 2025, while a cluster of slow-moving thunderstorms driven by abundant tropical moisture from Hurricane Laura occurred on August 26, 2020. Additional flash flood events driven by strong forcing and heavy rainfall rates occurred on January 30, 2025, and October 4, 2023.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in designated Special Flood Hazard Areas, particularly homes situated near low-water crossings, local tributaries, and areas prone to rapid runoff during intense rainfall rates.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
27 NOAA storm reports from Red River County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 30, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 7, 2016 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 50 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 26, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 21, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Dec 8, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jan 30, 2025. A closed upper level low pressure system shifted east from Southeast Colorado into the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandles into Western Oklahoma on January 30th, with an increased southerly low level flow allowing warm, humid, and very moist air to return back north across Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas with the passage of a warm front. Strong forcing near and north of the warm front ahead of th…
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. A stationary front extended across portions of Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas during the early morning hours on April 4th, but lifted north into Southeast Oklahoma and Western Arkansas during the day. This was in response to an intensifying low level jet that developed ahead of a large upper trough that extended from the Intermountain West into the Plains, which provided the necessary lift across the very…
Flash Flood · Oct 4, 2023. A prolonged period of very heavy rainfall along with severe thunderstorms occurred on October 4th-5th across parts of Northeast Texas. Showers and thunderstorms with 1-3 inch per hour rainfall rates trained in the vicinity of a warm front, which was oriented across the Ark-La-Tex and in adjacent portions of Southeast Oklahoma and Northeast Louisiana. Deep convergence of moisture along the boundary resulted as the…
Flash Flood · Aug 26, 2020. An inverted trough aloft developed over portions of extreme Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and Southeast Oklahoma during the early morning hours of August 26th, ahead of Hurricane Laura as it tracked north towards the Southwest Louisiana coast. Abundant tropical moisture streamed northward ahead of Laura and into this trough, which enhanced large scale forcing resulting in a cluster of strong, slow moving th…
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 Red River 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.