National comparison · NOAA Storm Events Database

Flood events by state

Texas has recorded the most flood events of any state, with 5,683 records across the NOAA Storm Events Database. This ranking covers all 55 states and territories with at least one matching event.

Compiled by PlainHazard, Independent hazard-data publisher · August 25, 2026

Texas
Most flood events: 5,683
Texas events: 79,734
Records nationwide

Texas has the most flood events of any state (5,683, 7% of the 79,734 records in this ranking)

PlainHazard ranks 55 states and territories using NOAA Flood, Flash Flood, Coastal Flood, and Lakeshore Flood event records. Texas leads the catalog, while the top three states together account for 18% of records. This historical ranking counts NOAA flood-event records; it is not a floodplain map, a forecast, an insurance-loss ranking, or a personal-safety rating.

5,683 Texas records
7% held by Texas
18% held by the top 3

How concentrated are the events

Texas accounts for 7% of the 79,734 flood records in this ranking. The top three states - Texas, California, Virginia - account for 18%.

7%
of records in Texas: 18%
of records in the top 3: 55
states & territories covered

This historical ranking counts NOAA flood-event records; it is not a floodplain map, a forecast, an insurance-loss ranking, or a personal-safety rating.

What this ranking measures

This page sums NOAA Flood, Flash Flood, Coastal Flood, and Lakeshore Flood event records by state and ranks the highest totals first. It is a count of past recorded events, not a forecast and not a normalized per-capita, land-area, or personal-risk measure. This historical ranking counts NOAA flood-event records; it is not a floodplain map, a forecast, an insurance-loss ranking, or a personal-safety rating.

Top 12 states by flood events

Each row links to the state profile; this is a crawlable ranking, not an image-only chart.

1

Texas 5.7K flood events
2

California 4.5K flood events
3

Virginia 4.5K flood events
4

Missouri 4.2K flood events
5

Kentucky 3.4K flood events
6

Pennsylvania 2.9K flood events
7

Ohio 2.7K flood events
8

Arkansas 2.7K flood events
9

New York 2.6K flood events
10

North Carolina 2.5K flood events
11

Illinois 2.4K flood events
12

Arizona 2.3K flood events

Source NOAA Storm Events Database · 2026-08-25

The bar to make this top-12 list

Distribution of flood event counts across ranked states

2.3K Top 22% higher than 78% of 55 states

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NOAA Storm Events Database · 2026-08-25

Full flood-events-by-state ranking

States with the most recorded events rank first. The last column shows fatalities recorded in the same NOAA event rows.

#	State	Recorded Events	Fatalities
1	TexasTX	5,683	360
2	CaliforniaCA	4,525	49
3	VirginiaVA	4,508	18
4	MissouriMO	4,209	72
5	KentuckyKY	3,403	96
6	PennsylvaniaPA	2,887	27
7	OhioOH	2,741	18
8	ArkansasAR	2,669	21
9	New YorkNY	2,622	24
10	North CarolinaNC	2,504	133
11	IllinoisIL	2,370	25
12	ArizonaAZ	2,278	55
13	IowaIA	2,202	5
14	West VirginiaWV	2,130	46
15	MarylandMD	2,121	10
16	OklahomaOK	1,986	49
17	FloridaFL	1,896	9
18	Puerto RicoPR	1,828	34
19	South DakotaSD	1,795	5
20	TennesseeTN	1,714	63
21	MississippiMS	1,692	9
22	LouisianaLA	1,677	29
23	KansasKS	1,635	9
24	New JerseyNJ	1,541	32
25	IndianaIN	1,513	27
26	GeorgiaGA	1,447	0
27	South CarolinaSC	1,404	23
28	AlabamaAL	1,339	20
29	WisconsinWI	1,169	19
30	MassachusettsMA	990	0
31	MinnesotaMN	898	2
32	NebraskaNE	858	6
33	New MexicoNM	772	28
34	ColoradoCO	728	23
35	UtahUT	600	34
36	MaineME	543	2
37	New HampshireNH	443	0
38	ConnecticutCT	426	4
39	MichiganMI	418	3
40	NevadaNV	397	7
41	MontanaMT	339	2
42	WashingtonWA	333	4
43	IdahoID	308	1
44	OregonOR	279	4
45	VermontVT	274	5
46	HawaiiHI	259	6
47	WyomingWY	257	1
48	DelawareDE	256	0
49	AlaskaAK	246	4
50	District of ColumbiaDC	165	0
51	North DakotaND	153	5
52	Rhode IslandRI	139	0
53	American SamoaAS	98	1
54	U.S. Virgin IslandsVI	34	0
55	GuamGU	33	0

What to do with this ranking

Texas accounts for 7% of the 79,734 records in this ranking; the top three states hold 18%.

Open Texas's state profile for county-level context. Texas profile
Explore the national hazard pages for year and geography tables behind the rankings. Hazard records
Read how NOAA storm-event counts differ from federal disaster-declaration records before citing either. Disaster-data guide

This historical ranking counts NOAA flood-event records; it is not a floodplain map, a forecast, an insurance-loss ranking, or a personal-safety rating.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Flood, Flash Flood, Coastal Flood, and Lakeshore Flood event records Recorded events depend on NOAA monitoring and reporting coverage, which has expanded over time; earlier decades can undercount relative to recent years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which US state has the most flood events?

Texas has the most NOAA-recorded flood events of any state, with 5,683 records - 7% of the 79,734 records in this ranking.

Are flood events concentrated in a few states?

Yes. The top three states - Texas, California, Virginia - account for 18% of all records in this ranking. This historical ranking counts NOAA flood-event records; it is not a floodplain map, a forecast, an insurance-loss ranking, or a personal-safety rating.

Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. This ranking sums NOAA Flood, Flash Flood, Coastal Flood, and Lakeshore Flood event records by state. It labels the aggregation rather than presenting it as a forecast or a personal-risk measure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.