Where flood deaths happen

Flood deaths by place

1. Vehicle/Towed Trailer 1,324 (44%)
2. In Water 715 (24%)
3. Outside/Open Areas 278 (9%)
4. Permanent Home 253 (8%)
5. Unknown 119 (4%)
6. Camping 93 (3%)
7. Permanent Structure 56 (2%)
8. Other 48 (2%)
9. Boating 47 (2%)
10. Mobile/Trailer Home 46 (2%)
11. Heavy Equipment/Construction 9 (0%)
12. Business 8 (0%)
13. Under Tree 3 (0%)
14. Ball Field 2 (0%)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, fatalities files. The NCEI files.

Flash floods and river floods: who dies where

Flash floods account for 2,171 of the deaths and river floods (NOAA's "Flood" type) for 768. The share in vehicles is 43% in flash floods and 50% in river floods; the share in the water itself is 22% and 29%.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, fatalities files joined to the event type of each record.

Are vehicle flood deaths falling?

Per year, NOAA recorded 57 vehicle flood deaths in 1996-1999 and 38 in 2020-2026; the vehicle share went from 50% to 32%.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, fatalities files 1996 to 2026-06-30; the newest year is partial.

Where people die in vehicles in floods

1. Texas 269 of 591
2. Missouri 111 of 158
3. Kentucky 75 of 163
4. North Carolina 61 of 181
5. California 56 of 119
6. Oklahoma 53 of 91
7. Pennsylvania 51 of 108
8. Indiana 49 of 80
9. Tennessee 42 of 116
10. Illinois 42 of 61
11. Arkansas 38 of 92
12. New York 36 of 117

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, fatalities files; in each row, vehicle deaths of all flood deaths in the state.

What the National Weather Service tells drivers

"A mere 6 inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. It takes just 12 inches of rushing water to carry away most cars and just 2 feet of rushing water can carry away SUVs and trucks. It is NEVER safe to drive or walk into flood waters."
National Weather Service, Turn Around Don't Drown®

Source: National Weather Service. weather.gov/safety/flood-turn-around-dont-drown.

The states with the most flood deaths

1. Texas 595
2. North Carolina 186
3. Kentucky 169
4. Missouri 159
5. Arizona 127
6. California 121
7. Tennessee 121
8. New York 117
9. Pennsylvania 110
10. Arkansas 92
11. Oklahoma 91
12. West Virginia 85

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, deaths as totalled on the flood event records since 1996. The place tables above count the separate fatality file, which lists one row per death; a few deaths in the totals have no row there, so a state's two counts can differ by a handful.

How this was measured

NOAA's Storm Events fatality file records each death with the place it happened (a list fixed by the National Weather Service: vehicle, in water, permanent home, outside and others). Every fatality record whose event is a flood, flash flood, coastal or lakeshore flood is counted by its place, its NOAA event type, its year and its state. The files carry both 'Boating' and 'Boat' for the same place; they are counted together as Boating.

Sources

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, fatalities files 1996-2026.

Limits

The place is recorded as the National Weather Service learned it; some deaths carry no place (Unknown). Deaths outside the records, such as those found long after an event, may be missing.

Next

• Floods by stateEvery state ranked since 1996
• Floods in TexasThe state with the most flood deaths