62 flood insurance claims·$382,554 paid·7 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 Rusk 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 weather events dominates the flood risk profile in Rusk County, Texas, accounting for the vast majority of historical flood occurrences over the last 30 years compared to standard floods and tropical storms.
Recent notable events include a linear mesoscale convective system that drove heavy rainfall into the region on June 3, 2024, as well as slow-moving thunderstorms fueled by a stationary frontal boundary and high moisture levels on April 9, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A face the heaviest impacts, logging 29 claims with an average payout of $14,385 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 21 claims with an average payout of $6,147 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 10 claims averaging a $4,517 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 2 claims averaging $9,351 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in Zone A, as well as those in unshaded or undetermined zones, should pay the closest attention to flood preparedness given these historical claim metrics and the county's susceptibility to sudden flash floods.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Rusk County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
31 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 3 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 1989, with 9 claims and $40,893 paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding.
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.
46 NOAA storm reports from Rusk County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 7 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Wildfires | Aug 30, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Apr 6, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
64 since 1996: 57 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 22, 2022 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 30, 2024. Remnants of a pre-dawn mesoscale convective system (MCS) that developed over the southern High Plains propagated downstream into the Ark-La-Tex region during the afternoon hours on May 30th. Diurnal heating and weak convective inhibition allowed for renewed development of severe thunderstorms along the leading edge of this long-lived MCS. Surface temperatures warmed into the 80s ahead of this convection across Eas…
Flash Flood · Apr 9, 2024. A frontal boundary became stationary across the heart of the Ark-La-Tex region in vicinity of the Interstate 30 corridor on April 8th before slowly advancing southeast on April 9th. Concurrently, very moist southwest flow aloft resulting from a nearly cut-off low across the Desert Southwest provided for precipitable water values near 2 inches. Thunderstorms developed and gradually spread northward from Central int…
Flash Flood · Jun 3, 2024. A linear mesoscale convective system (MCS) advanced southeast into the Ark-La-Tex from Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening hours on June 3rd. A pocket of strong instability was present ahead of the line, where MLCAPE values ranged from around 2500 to 3500 J/kg range and surface dew points were in the 70s. Instability along with strong large-scale ascent associated with a vorticity maxima and low-level conver…
Flash Flood · May 11, 2023. An upper level low pressure system slowly ejected northeast across the piney woods of East Texas during the evening through the morning hours of May 10th-11th. A southerly low level jet present ahead of the low spilled copious amounts of low level moisture north into East Texas and Western Louisiana, with strong large scale forcing ahead of the low enhancing numerous shower and thunderstorm development which moved…
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 Rusk 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.