07-07-2025
How the Texas floods compare to the deadliest floods of the past decade
The death toll of the weekend flooding in Texas is still rising as the search for victims continues.
The big picture: Flash floods are the top storm-related killer in the U.S., per the National Weather Service, and climate experts have warned that these weather events are exacerbated by global warming.
By the numbers: The national 30-year-average for flood deaths is about 127 people per year, per the NWS.
About half of all flash flood fatalities are vehicle-related.
Zoom out: Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the deadliest flood in recent U.S. history, with a toll of about 1,833 people.
At least 80% of New Orleans was under flood water in a single day that year, per the NWS.
Flashback: A 1900 storm in Texas killed more than 8,000 people on Galveston Island and several thousand more on the mainland, according to the Galveston History Center.
An 1889 flood in Jonestown, Pennsylvania killed 2,209 people, which included 99 entire families and more than 750 victims who were never identified.
Here are some of the deadliest floods of the past decade:
2025: Flooding in Texas
Flash flooding has led to close to 90 deaths in Texas as of Monday with continuing risk of excessive rainfall. Officials have recovered 75 bodies.
As of Sunday, at least 41 people remained unaccounted for.
Forecasting models failed to predict the severity of the rainfall and residents weren't properly warned of the disaster.
2024: Hurricane Helene hits Carolinas
Hurricane Helene in September was one of the century's deadliest storms in the U.S. with at least 250 fatalities.
The storm, which brought catastrophic inland flooding to the southeastern U.S. and southern Appalachians, was the deadliest hurricane in the contiguous U.S. since 2005.
2022: Flooding in Kentucky and central Appalachia
July 2022 flooding in eastern Kentucky and central Appalachia caused 39 deaths and widespread damage.
"Entire homes and parts of some communities were swept away by flood waters," the National Weather Service said.
2021: Flooding in Tennessee
August 2021 flash flooding killed more than 20 people in parts of middle Tennessee.
This event marked the state's 24-hour rainfall record.
2017: Hurricane Harvey hits Texas
Hurricane Harvey caused 89 deaths, the largest number of direct deaths from a tropical cyclone in Texas since 1919, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As of last year, the storm was considered the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the U.S., per NOAA.
2016: Flooding in West Virginia
Flash flooding in West Virginia in June 2016 caused 23 fatalities, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm, which dropped 10 inches of rain within 24 hours, was virtually stationary, per the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
