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Newton County, TX flood insurance claims history

552 National Flood Insurance Program claims have been filed for flood losses in Newton County since 1979, and FEMA has paid out $28.0M on them. The worst year was 2017 with 260 claims. Newton County ranks #37 of 217 in Texas by claim count.

At a glance

  • 27% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 46% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Harvey (2017), which paid $15.7M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years — flooding here is a regular event, not a once-in-a-generation one.
  • More flood claims than 83% of the 217 Texas counties with any claims on file — and more than 5 of its 7 neighbors.
  • ZIP 77632 has the most claims in the county (223, 40%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
552
1979 – 2025
Total paid
$28.0M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
89%
490 received a payment
Average payout
$57K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
408
claims 2016 – 2025
Most recent loss
2025-05-06
data as of 2026-09-07

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Pick your ZIP code to see how many insured buildings there filed flood claims, in which years, and how much was paid. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere.

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 260 claims in 2017
 
'80
 
 
 
 
'85
 
 
 
 
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'95
 
 
 
 
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'05
 
 
 
 
'10
 
 
 
 
'15
 
 
 
 
'20
 
 
 
 
'25

Claims by year of loss, 1979–2025. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Newton County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Harvey254$15.7M$62K2017
Late winter severe storms102$8.7M$86K2016
Tropical Storm Paul16$417K$26K2006
Tropical Storm Allison9$143K$16K1989
Flooding (FEMA general label)8$45K$6K1982
Flooding (FEMA general label)6$38K$6K1989
Tropical Storm Imelda4$6K$1K2019
Hurricane Rita2$0$02005
Flooding (FEMA general label)2$0$01983
Heavy rains (FEMA general label)1$0$02002
Flooding (FEMA general label)1$51K$51K1998
Hurricane Chantel1$0$01989

74% of claims here fall under these 12 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

Claims by flood zone

Not sure what the zone letters mean? Flood zones explained →

High-risk A zones: 302 (55%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 114 (21%)Zone not recorded: 136 (25%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)302$16.2M$54K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)114$9.0M$79K
Zone not recorded136$2.7M$20K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt24043%
Stream, river or lake overflow20136%
Other causes7313%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)244%
Alluvial fan overflow81%
Not recorded51%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Newton County

13 ZIP codes in Newton County have at least one NFIP claim. ZIP codes can cross county lines; this table counts only claims FEMA assigned to Newton County.

77632223$15.8M40%112024
77614108$4.7M20%172024
7592853$1.4M10%112024
7596647$1.3M9%122024
7593239$850K7%132021
7593335$2.0M6%102025
7595630$1.6M5%102025
776127$131K1%42020
5$22K1%41994
789322$22K0%22001
776301$1K0%11989
776311$69K0%12016
759551$84K0%12016

Click a column to sort. Click a ZIP to load it in the lookup above.

When does Newton County flood?

August accounts for the most flood losses (206 claims, 37%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January51%
February214%
March12222%
April448%
May204%
June102%
July143%
August20637%
September6812%
October183%
November143%
December102%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20252$49K
202425$1.4M
20212$46K
20203$0
20196$18K
20183$27K
2017260$15.8M
2016107$8.9M
20151$16K
20141$0
20097$104K
20081$0
200617$489K
20052$0
20031$10K
20023$35K
200116$121K
199921$299K
19983$69K
19971$16K
19941$1K
19921$0
199117$103K
19901$7K
198928$297K
19862$15K
19843$19K
19833$0
198210$47K
19803$4K
19791$781

Neighboring counties

Newton County borders 7 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Newton County (this page)552$28.0M27%
Orange County12,876$1.04B66%
Calcasieu Parish, LA10,386$324.0M42%
Beauregard Parish, LA516$8.8M26%
Vernon Parish, LA338$9.4M29%
Jasper County228$7.5M67%
Sabine Parish, LA40$698K15%
Sabine County5$26K100%

All 217 Texas counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Newton County

Has Newton County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2025-05-06, and claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years (408 claims from 2016 to 2025). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-07, so the newest events may not appear yet.
Do I need flood insurance in a low-risk zone here?
Lenders generally require it only in high-risk A and V zones. But 27% of Newton County’s claims came from moderate- and low-risk zones. Whether to buy coverage is your call — see flood zones explained and check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Can I see whether a specific house has flooded?
Not here. FEMA removes addresses before publishing, so these figures describe areas, never a property. Our guide how to check if a house has flooded lists the questions and records that can tell you about a specific home.
Why might the real number of floods be higher?
Only buildings with National Flood Insurance can file these claims, and most homes are not insured for flood. More on what the counts mean in understanding NFIP claims data.

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About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 48351, data as of 2026-09-07). They cover only properties that carried National Flood Insurance — most homes do not, and private flood policies are not included — so real flood damage is larger than these counts show. Dollar amounts are as paid, in nominal dollars. Flood zone is the zone used to rate the policy at the time, which may differ from today’s map. FEMA states this dataset is not an official federal report. Use it for background, not for a purchase, insurance or legal decision; for a specific property ask the seller for its flood disclosure or the owner’s NFIP loss history.