Flood Help Guide

Arizona flood insurance and flood history

From FEMA's flood insurance and disaster data · Updated 2026-10-08

5,336NFIP flood claims since 1978
$62.9 millionPaid on those claims
$39,888Average paid claimlast 10 years
0.7%Homes with NFIP flood insurance
16Flood disaster declarationssince 2000

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 5,336 flood insurance claims in Arizona since 1978. The NFIP paid $62.9 million on them (building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments, in the dollars of the year paid).

The year with the most claims was 1983, with 507, mostly from Flooding.

In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 655 claims, and the average paid claim was $39,888.

40% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).

About 0.7% of homes in Arizona had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (17,476 of 2,647,475 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 21% (12,298 of 57,819).

Since 2000, FEMA has made 16 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of Arizona. The most recent was DR-4911-AZ (Severe Storms and Flooding), declared May 29, 2026.

Flood insurance claims in Arizona by year

NFIP flood claims per year in Arizona, 1978 to 202602505007501k1978: 465 claims, $3.2 million paid1979: 84 claims, $227,075 paid1980: 343 claims, $2.5 million paid19801981: 122 claims, $217,551 paid1982: 49 claims, $112,347 paid1983: 507 claims, $5.6 million paid1984: 190 claims, $398,705 paid1985: 25 claims, $24,989 paid1986: 69 claims, $265,025 paid1987: 53 claims, $35,714 paid1988: 76 claims, $258,840 paid1989: 37 claims, $85,567 paid1990: 230 claims, $1.2 million paid19901991: 16 claims, $19,742 paid1992: 137 claims, $810,092 paid1993: 435 claims, $4.5 million paid1994: 28 claims, $165,854 paid1995: 90 claims, $643,367 paid1996: 27 claims, $538,523 paid1997: 49 claims, $244,494 paid1998: 60 claims, $260,798 paid1999: 53 claims, $161,733 paid2000: 62 claims, $382,775 paid20002001: 27 claims, $80,152 paid2002: 68 claims, $406,669 paid2003: 80 claims, $489,880 paid2004: 115 claims, $1.9 million paid2005: 84 claims, $1.1 million paid2006: 110 claims, $2.3 million paid2007: 124 claims, $2.2 million paid2008: 67 claims, $788,001 paid2009: 40 claims, $609,779 paid2010: 160 claims, $3.4 million paid20102011: 43 claims, $214,481 paid2012: 46 claims, $414,702 paid2013: 59 claims, $1.2 million paid2014: 287 claims, $8.2 million paid2015: 43 claims, $356,965 paid2016: 121 claims, $1.9 million paid2017: 50 claims, $1.1 million paid2018: 94 claims, $1.7 million paid2019: 73 claims, $2.4 million paid2020: 19 claims, $138,222 paid20202021: 164 claims, $3.7 million paid2022: 105 claims, $2.9 million paid2023: 61 claims, $1.0 million paid2024: 13 claims, $69,420 paid2025: 61 claims, $2.2 million paid2026: 15 claims, $98,144 paid
NFIP claims per year by year of loss. Hover or tap a bar for the count and amount paid. 2026 is partial.
Show as a table
YearClaimsPaid
202615$98,144
202561$2.2 million
202413$69,420
202361$1.0 million
2022105$2.9 million
2021164$3.7 million
202019$138,222
201973$2.4 million
201894$1.7 million
201750$1.1 million
2016121$1.9 million
201543$356,965
2014287$8.2 million
201359$1.2 million
201246$414,702
201143$214,481
2010160$3.4 million
200940$609,779
200867$788,001
2007124$2.2 million
2006110$2.3 million
200584$1.1 million
2004115$1.9 million
200380$489,880
200268$406,669
200127$80,152
200062$382,775
199953$161,733
199860$260,798
199749$244,494
199627$538,523
199590$643,367
199428$165,854
1993435$4.5 million
1992137$810,092
199116$19,742
1990230$1.2 million
198937$85,567
198876$258,840
198753$35,714
198669$265,025
198525$24,989
1984190$398,705
1983507$5.6 million
198249$112,347
1981122$217,551
1980343$2.5 million
197984$227,075
1978465$3.2 million

Biggest flood events by NFIP payments

The flood events FEMA's claims data names most often for Arizona, ranked by what the NFIP paid. FEMA names events in its claims records; claims without an event name aren't included here.

EventYearClaimsPaid
Flooding1983310$4.8 million
Flooding1980244$2.0 million
Flooding1993134$1.6 million
Flooding1978116$448,629
Arizona Burn Scar Flash Flooding20221$20,091

Flood history by county

Every Arizona county in FEMA's data, sorted by number of NFIP claims since 1978. "Insured" is the share of homes with an NFIP policy.

CountyClaimsPaidInsuredFlood declarations
Maricopa County2,633$26.1 million0.6%3
Pima County584$7.9 million0.7%1
Yavapai County470$6.3 million1.2%4
Coconino County295$5.3 million1.4%4
Mohave County164$1.9 million0.5%3
Santa Cruz County161$1.3 million1.7%1
Gila County154$3.5 million0.9%4
Pinal County150$3.5 million0.5%3
Greenlee County142$2.2 million0.3%3
Yuma County123$1.0 million0.5%0
Cochise County115$641,3261.3%1
La Paz County113$1.1 million1.5%3
Navajo County106$971,1930.6%4
Graham County43$354,6301.6%2
Apache County10$18,3280.1%3

Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in Arizona

Declarations since 2000 that FEMA lists as involving flooding. "Help for individuals" means FEMA's Individual Assistance was approved for at least part of the area.

DeclarationDeclaredEventHelp for individuals
DR-4911-AZ May 29, 2026 Severe Storms and Flooding Yes
DR-4840-AZ Oct 25, 2024 Flooding Yes
DR-4703-AZ Apr 11, 2023 Severe Winter Storms and Flooding No
DR-4681-AZ Dec 30, 2022 Flooding No
DR-4620-AZ Sep 13, 2021 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-4436-AZ May 21, 2019 Snowstorm and Flooding No
DR-4409-AZ Nov 30, 2018 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-4389-AZ Aug 31, 2018 Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides No
DR-4203-AZ Nov 5, 2014 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1950-AZ Dec 21, 2010 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1940-AZ Oct 4, 2010 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1888-AZ Mar 18, 2010 Severe Winter Storms and Flooding No
DR-1660-AZ Sep 7, 2006 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1586-AZ Apr 14, 2005 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1581-AZ Feb 17, 2005 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1347-AZ Oct 27, 2000 Severe Storms and Flooding Yes

What to do with this

A county's history doesn't tell you your own building's risk. To see your property's flood zone, use FEMA's flood map lookup. To weigh coverage, start with do I need flood insurance? and what flood insurance costs.

Where these numbers come from

All figures on this page are calculated from FEMA's public OpenFEMA datasets:

FEMA's redacted claims data doesn't identify properties, and FEMA notes that some records lack a county or flood zone. See how we use the data.