Floodwaters rise and fall on every creek, draw, bayou, coast, and river shoreline in Texas at some point in time. Floods, like drought, are a natural part of the water cycle. During a drought we anxiously await a rain event big enough to finally end the dry spell. A drought buster arrives eventually.

But rain events large enough to end a drought, as well as smaller events, can lead to flooding. On September 9, 1921, an intense but short-lived downpour occurred in Williamson County. The small town of Thrall received more than 36 inches of rain in 18 hours, setting a national record that remains today.

Widespread rainfall in the spring of 1957 broke a statewide, multi-year drought of record but also brought flooding across the state from the Pecos to the Sabine. In October 1998, a stalled front brought up to 30 inches of rain to south-central Texas in two days, causing historic flooding along the San Marcos, Guadalupe, and San Antonio rivers. Most recently, in August and September 2017, Texans witnessed the continuous rain bands of Hurricane Harvey unleash up to 60 inches of rain over 8 days, causing devastation for residents from Rockport to Orange, some of whom are still recovering today.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) estimates that just a single inch of floodwater in a home causes $26,807 in damages. Even more significantly, floods can be fatal. Equipped with accurate and timely information, however, citizens can take steps to protect themselves and their property from the worst effects of flood. This site scales back the sea of flood-related information and resources to provide a jumping off point for Texans who want to increase their flood awareness and preparedness.