187 flood insurance claims·$3.9M 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 Tyler 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.
Tyler County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash flooding from severe weather systems, accounting for 30 out of 39 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 5 general floods, 2 tropical storms, and 2 hurricanes, resulting in 1 recorded flash flood death. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in April 2024 that caused flooding in areas not yet drained from earlier in the month, as well as multi-day unsettled weather and squall lines producing flash floods in May 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 98 claims with an average payout of $18,659 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Properties designated as Zone X recorded 39 claims with an average payout of $40,110 and an average water depth of 8 inches, while unshaded Zone X properties saw 25 claims averaging $26,490 with an average water depth of 5 inches. Additionally, unknown zones logged 24 claims averaging $19,203 with an average water depth of 8 inches, and shaded Zone X recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $18,260 and 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in high-risk Zone A, which holds the highest concentration of historical claims, as well as properties in Zone X and unshaded Zone X areas where lower-frequency events have resulted in higher average claim payouts and greater recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Tyler County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
124 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 5 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 29 claims and $1.4M 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 Tyler County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
32 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 12 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 And Flooding | May 22, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 7, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
39 since 1996: 30 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 21, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 5, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 2, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 26, 2020 | $10.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 21, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms affected southeast Texas as a cold front stalled across the region.
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 · 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.
Flash Flood · May 13, 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 Tyler 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.