Texas floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 254 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 15,832 floods and flash floods in Texas from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 509 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the July 4, 2025 flash flood: 117 deaths and $205 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 23 records. Texas ranks 1st of 52 states and territories by count and 30th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in Texas, 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
- 15,8321996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 509average
- Deaths
- 5956,954 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $62.4Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 20071,345 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 Texas?
Texas averages about 509 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 1st of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2007 (1,345). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Texas records 606 floods and flash floods since 1996, 30th 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 Texas have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Galveston County leads Texas: 99 days with a flood since 1996, 260.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Bexar County has the most flood records (465 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 Texas?
Texas's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is May (2,880 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 435 · Feb 405 · Mar 800 · Apr 1,284 · May 2,880 · Jun 2,730 · Jul 1,585 · Aug 1,490 · Sep 1,485 · Oct 1,580 · Nov 803 · Dec 355 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in Texas?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-04 | Flash FloodHunt, Kerr County One storm episode: 23 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. Tropical Storm Barry moved into and dissipated over eastern Mexico. Moist air from the remnants of Barry moved northward into Texas. Precipitable water values over South-Central Texas increased to near record levels. A mid-level anticyclonic circulation developed and moved over Central Texas providing lift to generate ... | 117 | 0 | $205M | |
| 2017-08-26 | Hurricane Harvey · Flash FloodJoyce, Harris County One named storm filed by several offices: 21 records in 5 episodes, 2017-08-26 to 2017-08-30; the totals are the storm's. Harvey made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas during the evening of August 25th. The storm then weakened to a tropical storm and slowed, looping back and tracking over SE Texas then back over the Gulf of Mexico making a second landfall along the Louisiana coast during the early morning hours of ... | 73 | 1 | $52.5B | |
| 1998-10-17 | Flash FloodCountywide, Bexar County One storm episode: 20 records in 16 places, 1998-10-17 to 1998-10-18; the totals are the episode's. The Great October FloodIn advance of a very slow-moving upper level trough of low pressure over West Texas, a cold front drifted slowly southeastward into West Central Texas during the evening of Friday, October 16th. Deep moisture was in place across South Central Texas as the two systems approached, being fed at the ... | 25 | 4,320 | $252M | |
| 2015-05-24 | Flash FloodWimberley, Hays County One storm episode: 6 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. An upper level shortwave trough moved around the longwave low over the Four Corners region. This upper distubance interacted with a surface boundary moving northward as a warm front from South Texas into a very moist airmass. This combination led to thunderstorms that produced heavy rain and isolated severe weather. A ... | 14 | 0 | $274M | |
| 1998-08-23 | Tropical Storm Charley · Flash FloodCountywide, Val Verde County One named storm filed by several offices: 11 records in 6 episodes, 1998-08-23 to 1998-08-24; the totals are the storm's. By nightfall on the 23rd, the central low pressure associated with the remainder of Charley had indeed stalled near Del Rio. A second seige of devastating rain fell between 9 pm and 2 am, producing over 10 inches by midnight. The intense rain was again in a "feeder band", oriented north to south over Del Rio and ... | 13 | 235 | $79M | |
| 2025-06-12 | Flash FloodLonghorn, Bexar County One storm episode: 22 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. A mid-level shortwave trough moved over Texas and combined with an abnormally moist airmass to generate thunderstorms. These storms were very efficient rain producers dropping locally heavy rain that led to flash flooding. There were also a few severe thunderstorms. | 13 | 0 | $23M | |
| 2016-06-02 | Flash FloodCold Spg, Coryell County Multiple media outlets reported the tragic drownings of 9 members of the U.S. Military in a flooded creek on Fort Hood Army Base the morning of June 2. The soldiers were killed when their truck overturned in rain-swollen Owl Creek during a military training exercise. Three other soldiers in the truck were rescued. | 9 | 3 | $37K | |
| 2007-08-16 | Tropical Storm Erin · Flash FloodElmendorf, Bexar County One named storm filed by several offices: 12 records in 4 episodes, 2007-08-16 to 2007-08-18; the totals are the storm's. Tropical Storm Erin moved inland near Port Aransas on the morning of August 16 and continued toward the northwest, in the general direction of San Antonio. By noon, the remnants of Erin were located near Pleasanton in Atascosa County with winds near 30 mph, and moving toward the northwest near 14 mph. What was left of ... | 8 | 0 | $69M | |
| 2015-05-25 | Flash FloodNassau Bay, Harris County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Across already very saturated grounds, a slow moving line of thunderstorms moved into Harris County from central Texas during the evening hours of the 25th. Very heavy rainfall began in the mid evening hours across the northern portions of the county, while additional thunderstorms developed over central Fort Bend ... | 8 | 0 | $32M | |
| 2016-04-29 | Flash FloodPalestine, Anderson County One storm episode: 5 records in 3 places, 2016-04-29 to 2016-04-30; the totals are the episode's. A warm front and a dry line combined to produce another round of severe weather across the region. Three tornadoes occurred on April 29th producing relatively minor damage equivalent to EF-0 damage. The big story during this period was the 6 flash flood fatalities in the Palestine area in Anderson County on the night ... | 8 | 0 | $2.6M |
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 Texas
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-26 | Hurricane Harvey · Flash FloodJoyce, Harris County One named storm filed by several offices: 21 records in 5 episodes, 2017-08-26 to 2017-08-30; the totals are the storm's. | 73 | 1 | $52.5B | |
| 2022-08-22 | Flash FloodMesquite, Dallas County One storm episode: 9 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $1.4B | |
| 2015-10-23 | Flash FloodFrost, Navarro County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2015-10-23 to 2015-10-24; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $1.2B | |
| 2019-09-18 | Tropical Storm Imelda · Flash FloodHamshire, Jefferson County One named storm filed by several offices: 12 records in 2 episodes, 2019-09-18 to 2019-09-19; the totals are the storm's. | 5 | 3 | $1.1B | |
| 1998-10-17 | FloodComal County · forecast zone Comal One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places, 1998-10-17 to 1998-10-18; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 750 | $488M | |
| 2008-07-24 | Hurricane Dolly · FloodEdcouch, Hidalgo County One storm episode: 7 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $459M | |
| 2015-05-04 | Flash FloodNew Home Airport, Lynn County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 1 | $387M | |
| 2006-08-01 | Flash FloodNorthwest Portion, El Paso County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $293M |
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 Texas?
Texas'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 | Texas | United States | Texas's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 2,231 | 20,986 | 10.6% |
| 2000s | 6,124 | 54,913 | 11.2% |
| 2010s | 4,601 | 68,322 | 6.7% |
| 2020-26 | 2,876 | 43,563 | 6.6% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in Texas
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | Flash FloodWolfforth, Lubbock County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-29 | Flash FloodStudy Butte, Brewster County | 0 | 0 | $20K | |
| 2026-06-25 | Flash FloodAllison, Wheeler County | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-06-25 | Flash FloodWheeler County | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodClarksville, Red River County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodClarksville, Red River County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodClarksville, Red River County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodDe Kalb, Bowie County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodBivins, Cass County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodLinden, Cass County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodBancker, Cass County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-23 | Flash FloodBlossom, Lamar County | 0 | 0 | $1.0M |
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 Texas
FEMA has declared 64 disasters in Texas 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); 63 were major disasters, the latest on September 1, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4935 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 23 |
| 2026-07-18 | EM-3649 | Flooding | 33 |
| 2025-07-06 | DR-4879 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 23 |
| 2025-05-21 | DR-4871 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 4 |
| 2024-05-17 | DR-4781 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 83 |
| 2019-10-04 | DR-4466 | Tropical Storm Imelda | 7 |
| 2019-07-17 | DR-4454 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 3 |
| 2019-02-25 | DR-4416 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 36 |
| 2018-07-06 | DR-4377 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 3 |
| 2016-06-11 | DR-4272 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 46 |
| 2016-04-25 | DR-4269 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 27 |
| 2016-03-19 | DR-4266 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 21 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Galveston County: the county's whole recordThe Texas county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
- Floods across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in TexasTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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