Puerto Rico floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 78 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 3,810 floods and flash floods in Puerto Rico from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 132 a year since 2000. The deadliest was Hurricane Maria (September 20, 2017): 20 deaths and $22 billion in damage in 2025 dollars across 40 records. Puerto Rico ranks 20th of 52 states and territories by count and 1st of 51 per square mile.
Floods in Puerto Rico, 1996 to 2026
Flood records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 3,8101996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 132average
- Deaths
- 8319 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $23.5Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 2024404 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are floods and flash floods common in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico averages about 132 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 20th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2024 (404). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Puerto Rico records 11126 floods and flash floods since 1996, 1st of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Puerto Rico have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Arecibo Municipio leads Puerto Rico: 88 days with a flood since 1996, 698.2 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Arecibo Municipio has the most flood records (162 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is flood season in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is May (685 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 108 · Feb 93 · Mar 157 · Apr 371 · May 685 · Jun 173 · Jul 238 · Aug 342 · Sep 493 · Oct 558 · Nov 436 · Dec 156 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in Puerto Rico?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-09-20 | Hurricane Maria · Flash FloodToa Baja Municipio One storm episode: 40 records in 40 places; the totals are the episode's. Hurricane Maria was a catastrophic category 4 hurricane which devastated the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. Maximum sustained winds of 175 mph as it was approaching the county warning area. The direction was towards the west northwest with the eye clipping Saint Croix and Vieques. The hurricane then made ... | 20 | 0 | $22.0B | |
| 2011-11-07 | Flash FloodArecibo Municipio A van with 10 inmates and 2 guards was overturned by a rush of water flowing down a dry gut. From the 12 passengers, 4 were rescued, 2 guards and 2 inmates, 8 bodies were recovered. According to EMS officials, the dry gut was already swollen and flooded the nearby area before the van tried to travel through at the ... | 8 | 0 | $33K | |
| 2008-09-21 | Flash FloodGuayama, Aguada Municipio One storm episode: 6 records in 4 places, 2008-09-21 to 2008-09-22; the totals are the episode's. During the three day period of September 21-23, 2008, parts of Puerto Rico suffered from one of the most catastrophic flooding events of the season to date. The flooding affected many municipalities island wide. The torrential rainfall resulted in severe flooding to rivers, streams, and roads, causing sinkholes, ... | 5 | 0 | $34M | |
| 2003-04-17 | Flash FloodCountywide One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. An intense upper to mid level trough located west of Puerto Rico, coupled with an influx of moist and unstable southerly winds, managed to produce widespread showers and thunderstorms that affected the island of Puerto Rico and began early on Thursday morning. This event led to severe flooding in many municipalities, ... | 3 | 0 | $20M | |
| 2004-11-12 | FloodAguas Buenas Municipio and 8 more · forecast zone Eastern Interior A persistent upper trough to the west of Puerto Rico and a extremely moist low level air mass, brought numerous showers during the period from November 12-15. On the 12 November rainfall was already fairly impressive across the eastern and central interior, although the northeast quarter of the island received 1 to 2 ... | 2 | 2 | $2.3M | |
| 1998-10-22 | Hurricane Georges · Flash FloodCountywide, Humacao Municipio One named storm filed by several offices: 7 records in 4 episodes, 1998-10-22 to 1998-10-28; the totals are the storm's. A slow moving tropical wave produced between 6 to 8 inches of rain during afternoon and evening hours across eastern Puerto Rico. Widespread flooding was observed across the eastern and central interior sections of Puerto Rico. The most affected municipalities were Maunabo, Yabucoa, Humacao and Naguabo where most of ... | 2 | 0 | $6.4M | |
| 2022-09-18 | Hurricane Fiona · Flash FloodToa Baja Municipio One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2022-09-18 to 2022-09-19; the totals are the episode's. Hurricane Fiona made landfall on Sunday the 18th around 3:20 PM AST near Punta Tocn in southwestern Puerto Rico. Strong, gusty winds accompanied much of the stronger convection embedded within the hurricane. Hurricane-force gusts were observed over portions of southern Puerto Rico during the afternoon on Sunday. These ... | 2 | 0 | $20K | |
| 2012-09-15 | Flash FloodGuayanilla Municipio Two young men were swept away by a sharp rise in the Guayanilla river in Barrio Jaguapasto. The two young men were found later dead. | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2010-05-28 | Flash FloodBarranquitas Municipio River Botijas overflowed its banks along road 720, km. 0.3 in Barrio Palo Hincado, in the border between the Barranquitas and Orocovis municipalities. Flash flooding killed two people who drowned when their truck Ford F150 car was swept away by river Botijas flood waters. | 2 | 0 | $14K | |
| 2008-09-01 | Flash FloodNaguabo A flash flood overtook a group of four hikers as they were walking along the banks of River Prieto-River Blanco along the south slope of the Caribbean National Forest El Yunque in the municipality of Naguabo. Two of the hikers were able to escape the flash flood, the other two were washed by the water surge. Showers ... | 2 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest floods and flash floods in Puerto Rico
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-09-20 | Hurricane Maria · Flash FloodToa Baja Municipio One storm episode: 40 records in 40 places; the totals are the episode's. | 20 | 0 | $22.0B | |
| 2017-09-06 | Hurricane Irma · Flash FloodAdjuntas Municipio One storm episode: 24 records in 24 places, 2017-09-06 to 2017-09-07; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $914M | |
| 2001-05-06 | Flash FloodCountywide, Aguas Buenas Municipio One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $237M | |
| 2001-11-07 | Flash FloodCountywide, Aguadilla Municipio One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $153M | |
| 2008-09-21 | Flash FloodGuayama, Aguada Municipio One storm episode: 6 records in 4 places, 2008-09-21 to 2008-09-22; the totals are the episode's. | 5 | 0 | $34M | |
| 2003-04-18 | Flash FloodCountywide One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $20M | |
| 2003-04-17 | Flash FloodCountywide One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 3 | 0 | $20M | |
| 2005-10-09 | FloodAdjuntas Municipio and 6 more · forecast zone Western Interior One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $15M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are floods and flash floods becoming more frequent in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Puerto Rico | United States | Puerto Rico's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 271 | 20,986 | 1.3% |
| 2000s | 1,048 | 54,913 | 1.9% |
| 2010s | 1,096 | 68,322 | 1.6% |
| 2020-26 | 1,395 | 43,563 | 3.2% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in Puerto Rico
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-27 | FloodAguada Municipio | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2026-05-12 | Flash FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-05-12 | Flash FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-05-12 | Flash FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-05-12 | FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-05-12 | FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-05-12 | FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-05-12 | FloodSan Juan Municipio | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2026-05-07 | FloodPonce Municipio | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2026-05-07 | FloodPonce Municipio | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2026-05-07 | FloodPonce Municipio | 0 | 0 | $4K | |
| 2026-04-30 | FloodHormigueros Municipio | 0 | 0 | $2K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for floods and flash floods in Puerto Rico
FEMA has declared 19 disasters in Puerto Rico for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 19 were major disasters, the latest on July 23, 2024.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-07-23 | DR-4805 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 13 |
| 2022-03-29 | DR-4649 | Severe Storm, Flooding, and Landslides | 5 |
| 2020-11-05 | DR-4571 | Severe Storm and Flooding | 1 |
| 2011-07-14 | DR-4004 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides | 13 |
| 2010-10-26 | DR-1946 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides Assoc W Ts Otto | 21 |
| 2010-06-24 | DR-1919 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 10 |
| 2008-10-01 | DR-1798 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 26 |
| 2005-11-10 | DR-1613 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 17 |
| 2003-11-21 | DR-1501 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides | 31 |
| 2001-11-28 | DR-1396 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides and Landslides | 13 |
| 2001-05-16 | DR-1372 | Severe Storms, Flooding and Mudslides | 15 |
| 1992-01-22 | DR-931 | Severe Storms & Flooding | 35 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Arecibo Municipio: the county's whole recordThe Puerto Rico county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
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