15 US Cities Where Floods Have Caused The Most Damage
Flooding can be caused by huge storms like hurricanes and thunderstorms. In many cases, the worst damage occurs downstream. The UK’s Environment Agency has warned that local flood-control measures can have other consequences: “In the past this has sometimes come with unintended consequences including increasing flooding downstream.”
Climatecrisis247 analyzed the most damaging floods using FEMA‘s OpenFEMA dataset, FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v2. The data runs from 1978 through September.
Total damage and insured damage are different numbers, because not all damage leads to a claim. Estimates of total storm damage are therefore always higher than FEMA’s figures, which reflect insured losses. For example, FEMA claims for Hurricane [name] were a small fraction of the total damage estimate of $320 billion, adjusted for inflation, according to AccuWeather. That figure also includes economic losses.
Because this list ranks cities rather than individual events, some cities include two or more events. “Most damage” may therefore cover events from different years. Houston’s total, for example, includes Harvey in 2017 and Allison in 2001. In addition, some of the largest losses occurred outside city limits. FEMA claims for Katrina in Jefferson Parish, LA, totaled $2.82 billion.
Cities with the most flood insurance payouts
| Rank | City | Total paid | Claims | Main event(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Orleans, LA | $7.33 billion | 128,256 | Katrina (2005) |
| 2 | Houston, TX | $4.79 billion | 87,007 | Harvey (2017), Allison (2001) |
| 3 | New York City, NY | $1.46 billion | 43,705 | Sandy (2012) |
| 4 | St. Petersburg, FL | $1.27 billion | 16,193 | Helene and Milton (2024) |
| 5 | Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish), LA | $1.08 billion | 18,913 | 2016 floods |
| 6 | Hempstead, NY | $982 million | 22,112 | Sandy |
| 7 | Galveston, TX | $776 million | 18,540 | Ike (2008) |
| 8 | Sanibel, FL | $694 million | 7,028 | Ian (2022) |
| 9 | Toms River, NJ | $611 million | 9,466 | Sandy |
| 10 | Tampa, FL | $588 million | 8,894 | Helene and Milton |
| 11 | Naples, FL | $585 million | 4,599 | Ian |
| 12 | Kenner, LA | $570 million | 17,103 | Katrina |
| 13 | Fort Myers Beach, FL | $531 million | 3,573 | Ian |
| 14 | Slidell, LA | $463 million | 9,922 | Katrina |
| 15 | Cape Coral, FL | $455 million | 7,173 | Ian |
More from ClimateCrisis 247
- The U.S. States Losing the Most Forest
- Which U.S. Cities Produce the Most Emissions Per Resident?
- How Oil Money Failed to Save Climate-Denying Lawmakers in 2026
- NFL Teams Most Exposed to Severe Weather in November
