1,295 flood insurance claims·$19.8M paid·2 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 Wichita 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 and localized flood events driven by slow-moving summer thunderstorms and heavy rainfall systems dominate Wichita County. NOAA storm records document numerous events over the last 30 years, including localized flooding near Wichita Falls from slow-moving thunderstorms on June 30, 2025, and minor flooding in and around Wichita Falls on August 1, 2025. Additional heavy rainfall combined with prior wet conditions produced urban and stream flooding across the region on November 8, 2024.
Federal insurance data reveals that flood risks extend across multiple designated zones. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of National Flood Insurance Program claims with 914 filings averaging $16,987 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X_SHADED recorded 147 claims averaging $35,273 with a 2-inch average water depth, while Zone X logged 108 claims averaging $26,591 with an average water depth of 5 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 113 claims with an average payout of $7,519 and a 2-inch average water depth, and Zone UNKNOWN logged 12 claims averaging $3,200 with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within high-risk Zone A, as well as structures situated in shaded and unshaded Zone X areas where significant insurance claims and flood damages have also occurred.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
22% of Wichita County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,174 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 1982, with 190 claims and $5.8M paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Wichita County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1979, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| County Line Fire | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Sisk Road Fire | Apr 29, 2011 |
| Wichita Fire Complex | Apr 15, 2011 |
| Wildfires | Apr 6, 2011 |
| Electra West Fire | Apr 9, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
37 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 1, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 8, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Dec 26, 2018 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 7, 2018 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 2, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 24, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 30, 2025. Widespread strong-to-severe thunderstorms developed along a quasi-stationary boundary across central and southern Oklahoma and western-north Texas during the evening of the 30th. The combination of high moisture content in the lower atmosphere and slow-moving thunderstorms led to a few localized areas of flooding near Wichita Falls, Texas.
Flood · Aug 1, 2025. A cluster of strong to occasionally severe thunderstorms moved across western-north Texas from the morning into early afternoon of the 1st. Minor flooding occurred in and around the community of Wichita Falls, Texas.
Flood · Nov 8, 2024. A vorticity maxima, embedded within a broader closed upper low along the Great Divide, rotated out across the Southern High Plains on the 8th. Widespread showers and thunderstorms produced locally heavy rainfall across portions of the area that, combined with heavy rains during prior days, led to a few reports of urban and stream flooding across the region.
Flood · Dec 26, 2018. A strong storm system with unseasonable moisture brought heavy rainfall and high winds to the area.
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 Wichita 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.