30 flood insurance claims·$894,365 paid·3 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 Sutton 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 driven by heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Sutton County, accounting for 41 out of 45 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 3 standard flood events and 1 tropical depression. Recent history underscores this pattern, including heavy rainfall and flash flooding produced by deep tropical moisture and a weak upper-level area of low pressure in July 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones with distinct severity profiles. Properties located in Zone A account for 24 claims with an average payout of $31,635 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X account for 6 claims with an average payout of $48,885 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated within designated Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A, where average recorded water depths reach 9 inches, as well as lower-lying areas vulnerable to sudden, heavy tropical moisture and thunderstorm downpours.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Sutton County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
24 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 2018, with 21 claims and $874,207 paid, the year of Severe Storms and 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Sutton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1993, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jul 2, 2025 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 10, 2018 |
| Wildfires | Aug 30, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Apr 6, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Mar 14, 2008 |
| Extreme Wildfire Threat | Nov 27, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 41 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Oct 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 2, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2018 | $8.0M |
| Flood | Oct 16, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Jun 27, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 13, 2025. The combination of deep tropical moisture and a weak upper level area of low pressure produced heavy rainfall and flash flooding across portions of the Northwest Hill Country and Heartland.
Flash Flood · Sep 7, 2025. Heavy rainfall causing Flash Flooding across portions of Sutton County.
Flood · Oct 25, 2023. The combination of abundant moisture and strong thunderstorms produced some flash flooding across portions of Kimble County.
Flash Flood · May 2, 2019. On May 1, a very unstable airmass, dryline and a residual outflow boundary combined across the Big Country or the region north of Interstate 20 to trigger a few supercell thunderstorms. These ingredients resulted in two tornado reports and a few hail reports. By May 3, an upper level disturbance moved into West Central Texas and caused more severe storms to develop. These storms produced large hail on May 3. T…
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 Sutton 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.