Hurricanes · Floods · Wind · Freeze
Houston Storm History
Four decades of hurricanes, floods, derechos and freezes — and the insurance claim lessons each one left behind. Houston Public Adjusters have seen how carriers handle every type of Gulf Coast loss.
Major storms that shaped Houston insurance claims
Filter by hazard. Every storm here produced thousands of property insurance claims across Harris County and the surrounding area.
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2024
Hurricane Beryl
Beryl made landfall near Matagorda as a Category 1 hurricane and tracked directly over the Houston area. Roughly 2.2 million CenterPoint customers lost power, many for more than a week in July heat. Fallen trees, roof damage and power-outage food and equipment losses were widespread.
Claim lesson: Named-storm deductibles applied to many Beryl claims. Tree-on-roof, fence and spoilage claims were frequently underpaid or missed entirely.
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2024
Houston Derecho
A fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms produced straight-line winds the National Weather Service estimated near 100 mph in downtown Houston, blowing out high-rise windows, toppling transmission towers and leaving close to a million customers without power.
Claim lesson: Derecho damage is wind damage, not a hurricane, so the standard (not the hurricane) deductible usually applies — a detail carriers sometimes get wrong.
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2021
Hurricane Nicholas
Nicholas came ashore on the Matagorda Peninsula as a Category 1 hurricane, knocking out power to roughly half a million Houston-area customers and dropping heavy rain across the region.
Claim lesson: Smaller storms still create real claims. Interior water from wind-driven rain is a covered loss under many policies.
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2021
Winter Storm Uri
Days of sub-freezing temperatures and the ERCOT grid failure left millions of Texans without power or heat. Frozen and burst pipes flooded homes and businesses across Houston, and plumbers and materials were scarce for weeks.
Claim lesson: Burst-pipe water damage is typically covered; the pipe repair itself sometimes is not. Delayed repairs led to mold disputes that needed careful documentation.
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2019
Tropical Storm Imelda
Imelda stalled over Southeast Texas and dumped more than 40 inches of rain in parts of Jefferson County, with severe flooding in northeast Harris County, Kingwood and Humble.
Claim lesson: Rising water is excluded from homeowners policies. Flood insurance (NFIP or private) and wind-driven rain coverage had to be separated claim by claim.
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2017
Hurricane Harvey
Harvey made landfall near Rockport as a Category 4 hurricane, then stalled over Southeast Texas. Parts of Harris County received more than 40 inches of rain and roughly 150,000 Harris County homes flooded. With an estimated $125 billion in damage it remains one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history.
Claim lesson: Harvey showed why wind versus water causation matters: the same house could have a wind claim, a flood claim and contents claims under different policies.
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2016
Tax Day Flood
Training thunderstorms dropped more than 15 inches of rain in parts of northwest Harris County overnight, flooding thousands of homes and apartments in Cypress, Jersey Village and along Cypress Creek.
Claim lesson: Many renters and homeowners outside mapped flood zones learned they had no flood coverage. A flood policy has a 30-day waiting period, so buy it before the season.
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2015
Memorial Day Flood
Torrential rain over the Brays Bayou watershed sent the bayou out of its banks, flooding thousands of homes in Meyerland and southwest Houston.
Claim lesson: Repeat-flood neighborhoods face tighter underwriting. Documenting pre-loss condition and prior repairs protects later claims.
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2008
Hurricane Ike
Ike made landfall at Galveston as a large Category 2 hurricane with a catastrophic storm surge on Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island. More than 2 million CenterPoint customers lost power and wind damage stretched across the entire metro, including blown-out windows downtown.
Claim lesson: Ike produced years of underpaid-roof litigation in Texas and helped shape today’s windstorm claim rules, including deadlines and pre-suit notice requirements.
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2005
Hurricane Rita
Weeks after Katrina, Rita triggered one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history as millions left the Houston–Galveston area. The storm turned east and made landfall near the Texas–Louisiana border.
Claim lesson: Evacuation costs can fall under Additional Living Expense (ALE) coverage when a civil authority orders an evacuation. Keep receipts.
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2001
Tropical Storm Allison
Allison never reached hurricane strength but stalled over Houston for days, producing more than 35 inches of rain in parts of Harris County. The Texas Medical Center and downtown tunnels flooded and tens of thousands of homes were damaged.
Claim lesson: A tropical storm can be more destructive than a hurricane. Flood and mold claims from Allison helped change how Texas insurers handle mold.
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1983
Hurricane Alicia
Alicia made landfall southwest of Galveston as a Category 3 hurricane and passed directly over Houston, shattering windows in downtown skyscrapers and causing billions of dollars in damage across the region.
Claim lesson: Alicia led directly to stronger building codes along the Texas coast. Code-upgrade (ordinance or law) coverage pays to rebuild to today’s standards.
When Houston’s damaging weather usually hits
A seasonal guide to the hazards behind most Houston property claims. Darker cells mean that hazard is most common that month.
| Hazard | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane / tropical | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Possible | Common | Peak | Peak | Common | Possible | Rare |
| Hail & severe storms | Possible | Common | Peak | Peak | Peak | Common | Possible | Rare | Rare | Possible | Possible | Possible |
| Flash flooding | Possible | Possible | Possible | Common | Peak | Common | Possible | Common | Peak | Common | Possible | Possible |
| Freeze | Peak | Common | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Rare | Possible | Common |
Legend: white = rare, light = possible, medium = common, orange = peak. Atlantic hurricane season officially runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks from mid-August through September. Flooding can happen in any month in Houston.
What Houston’s storm history means for your claim
Insurance companies study these storms too. After every major event, carriers bring in out-of-town adjusters with heavy caseloads, apply their own pricing and look hard for exclusions: flood, not wind; wear and tear, not hail; long-term leak, not sudden damage. Knowing how past claims played out is how Houston public adjusters push back.
- Causation decides coverage. Wind and wind-driven rain are usually covered; rising water needs flood insurance. We document which damage came from which force.
- Deductibles differ by storm. A named hurricane can trigger a 1%–5% windstorm deductible; a derecho or hailstorm usually doesn’t. Check yours.
- Deadlines are real. Texas policies and the Insurance Code set notice and lawsuit deadlines. Map your timeline.
- Old claims can be reopened. Hidden damage found during repairs can often be supplemented. Learn about reopened claims.
Want to look up a specific storm on your street? The NOAA Storm Events Database lists reported hail, wind and flood events by county and date — useful evidence for a date of loss.
Property damage? The clock is already ticking.
Start with a free consultation from Houston Public Adjusters and protect your claim before mistakes cost you money.
