6 flood insurance claims·$82,283 paid·8 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 San Augustine 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 and heavy rainfall events dominates the flood risk in San Augustine County, accompanied by tropical storms and hurricanes. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 22 flash flood events resulting in 2 deaths, alongside 2 tropical storms and 2 hurricanes. Recent events include a flash flood driven by a stalled surface frontal boundary and deep southwesterly flow in January 2024, as well as heavy rainfall from showers and thunderstorms interacting with a tropical air mass in July 2024. Additional recorded flash flood events occurred in January 2022 and May 2021 due to upper-level low-pressure systems, troughs, and cold fronts.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within FEMA flood Zone A face the highest risk, averaging 3 claims with an average payout of $40,011 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. In contrast, Zone X and unshaded Zone X properties have recorded significantly fewer claims and lower average water depths. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood preparedness and insurance requirements.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
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 2 claims and $31,883 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from San Augustine County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1989, 8 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 |
| Hurricane Harvey | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 7, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
26 since 1996: 22 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 23, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 9, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 8, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 26, 2024. A broad complex of showers and thunderstorms with associated heavy rainfall developed across areas of Deep East Texas and West Central Louisiana by mid to late morning on July 26th. This occurred within an elongated axis of upper-level energy observed along much of the middle and upper Texas coast and up across interior areas of East Texas around the eastern flank of a broader mid-level trough over the Southern Pl…
Flash Flood · Jan 23, 2024. A deep upper-level trough axis became entrenched across the western U.S. early on January 23rd into the 24th, enhancing a deep southwesterly flow pattern across the Middle Red River Valley. Multiple disturbances aloft ejected northeast within the southwesterly flow and combined with a stalled surface frontal boundary to provide a nearly ideal environment for heavy rainfall across the Ark-La-Tex region. The axis of…
Flash Flood · Jan 9, 2022. A strong upper level low pressure system tracked east across the Red River Valley of Southern Oklahoma and North Texas during the afternoon of January 8th, before shifting across Northeast Texas into Southwest Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 9th. Ahead of this low, strong southerly low level winds rapidly transported low level moisture back north across the region, with large scale forcing and eleva…
Flash Flood · Apr 30, 2021. A cluster of showers and thunderstorms developed during the late evening hours of April 29th over Deep East Texas, near and just south of a weak cold front that drifted south across East Texas and North-Central Louisiana. These storms developed in a very moist air mass, near an inverted low level trough that extended from Deep East Texas into West-Central Louisiana. Additional forcing aloft was provided by increas…
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 San Augustine 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.