269 flood insurance claims·$6.8M paid·6 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
From the National Weather Service, checked just now. Every active flood alert in the U.S. →
WHAT. Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible.
WHERE. A portion of south Texas, including the following areas, Aransas Islands, Bee, Coastal Aransas, Coastal Kleberg, Coastal Nueces, Coastal Refugio, Coastal San Patricio, Duval, Goliad, Inland Kleberg, Inland Nueces, Inland Refugio, Inland San Patricio, Jim Wells, Kleberg Islands, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces Islands and Webb.
WHEN. From Saturday afternoon through Monday morning.
IMPACTS. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS. - Widespread forecast rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches will be common across South Texas with high end amounts approaching 5 inches. Isolated amounts exceeding 5 inches remains a possibility, especially in the vicinity of training and slow moving storms. While soils will be able to absorb most of this moisture, the higher rainfall rates can quickly lead to localized, urban flooding and in locations with poor drainage. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
What to do.
You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
Is your address in the flood zone? Search it above for FEMA’s zone and base flood elevation. A new flood insurance policy usually takes 30 days to start (NFIP rule; exceptions include a policy bought when closing a mortgage), so one bought during a flood generally won’t cover it. Homeowners policies don’t cover flood.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Webb 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 intense storms dominates the flood risk profile in Webb County, supported by 109 recorded flash flood events, alongside 7 general flood events, 1 tropical storm, and 1 tropical depression over the last 30 years.
Recent NOAA storm narratives illustrate how heavy rainfall develops across the region, such as a saturated atmosphere and a frontal boundary producing heavy rainfall on September 7, 2025, and a stalled cold front interacting with deep Gulf moisture to generate heavy rainfall on September 25, 2025.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of historical claims with 170 filings and an average payout of $41,614 with an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in unshaded Zone X areas also warrant close attention, having recorded 48 claims with an average water depth of 8 inches and an average payout of $27,742.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Webb County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
229 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 2007, with 42 claims and $648,720 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
50 NOAA storm reports from Webb County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Beryl | Jul 5, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Hanna | Jul 25, 2020 |
| El Cenizo Fire | Apr 4, 2011 |
| Hurricane Alex | Jun 30, 2010 |
| Tropical Storm Alex | Jun 27, 2010 |
| Hurricane Ike | Sep 7, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
118 since 1996: 109 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 8, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 15, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 14, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 23, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 22, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 25, 2025. A heavy rainfall event across South Texas developed as a strong upper-level trough extended southward from the Great Lakes into Texas, providing large-scale ascent and enhanced positive vorticity advection. At the surface, a cold front pushed into the region and eventually stalled, serving as the main focus for lift while interacting with outflow boundaries from earlier convection. Ahead of the front, deep Gulf mo…
Flood · May 8, 2025. A cluster of storms in La Salle County progressed southeastward through the evening hours. These storms intensified and developed into a well-organized MCS with a maturing bow echo feature as it extended into northeastern Duval and Jim Wells counties. An uptick in radar velocity was noted beginning north of San Diego, TX around 8:45pm CDT, with large wet melting hail enforcing a notable stronger surge of northwest…
Flash Flood · Sep 7, 2025. The atmosphere on September 7th remained well saturated, with PWAT values into the 1.9 to 2.2 inch range. This deep moisture combined with the passage of a frontal boundary that extended along the coast and continued to move offshore during the early morning hours produced periods of heavy rainfall across South Texas. This was particularly true along the Rio Grande. As the day progressed, moisture convergence, day…
Flood · Sep 15, 2024. A very strong thunderstorm peaked in intensity as it crossed from Mexico into the Laredo area on the night of September 14th. This initial storm contained heavy rain rates and weas then followed by a few other storms in wake during the early morning hours of the 15th. This combination and the flash prone urban area lead to quick flooding on streets and water rescues. Frequent lightning impacted power lines and cau…
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 Webb 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.