522 flood insurance claims·$5.0M paid·10 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 Willacy 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 thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Willacy County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 24 flash flood events and 16 general flood events, alongside tropical storms, coastal floods, storm surges, and hurricanes. Recent events illustrate this variety, including historic seasonal rainfall and widespread flash flooding from thunderstorms in March 2025, and slow-moving thunderstorms in northeast Willacy County that produced rainfall rates of two inches per hour in April 2025. Additionally, a combination of high pressure and low pressure in June 2024 generated rising coastal tides, wave energy, and beach erosion along the barrier island.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs across multiple zones, with the highest claim volumes concentrated in FEMA Zone A, which accounts for 239 claims with an average recorded water depth of 4 inches and an average payout of $9,253. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 128 claims with a higher average payout of $42,285 and an average water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated high-risk flood zones and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to historical claim payouts and average water depths when evaluating property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
15% of Willacy County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
303 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 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 1980, with 59 claims and $408,587 paid, the year of Hurricane Allen.
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.
25 NOAA storm reports from Willacy County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Texas flood stories →
29 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 26, 2025 |
| Hurricane Beryl | Jul 5, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Tropical Storms Marco And Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Hurricane Hanna | Jul 25, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 24, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 22, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
46 since 1996: 24 flash floods, 16 river or area floods and 3 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 27, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 21, 2025 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Apr 23, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 6, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Oct 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 27, 2025. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms pummeled the Lower Rio Grande Valley, especially during the afternoon and overnight hours of March 27th into early on March 28th, resulting in historic seasonal rainfall and widespread flash and areal flooding across the RGV. Total rainfall ranged from 8 to nearly 19 inches based on trusted observations, with 10 inches or more falling across some of the highest populate…
Flash Flood · Mar 27, 2025. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms pummeled the Lower Rio Grande Valley, especially during the afternoon and overnight hours of March 27th into early on March 28th, resulting in historic seasonal rainfall and widespread flash and areal flooding across the RGV. Total rainfall ranged from 8 to nearly 19 inches based on trusted observations, with 10 inches or more falling across some of the highest populate…
Flood · Apr 21, 2025. The combination of sufficient tropical moisture, a washed out front, and a weak upper level disturbance allowed for slow moving thunderstorms to dump very heavy rainfall in northeast Willacy County on April 21st. Minor flooding ensued due to rainfall rates of 2 per hour for over 2 hours.
Storm Surge/Tide · Jun 19, 2024. The difference between unusually strong (for late June) high pressure over the southeast U.S. and broad low pressure in the southwest Gulf brought a gradual increase in wave energy and rising tides (coastal run up) on the Lower Texas coast barrier island. Departures from predicted began to spike during the afternoon of June 18th, with the combination of wave energy (from 12+ foot waves and a 10-12 second swell pe…
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 Willacy 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.