Water damage in Bell County
Not affiliated with Bell County, any city government, FEMA, TDI, or any government agency.
Leave and call for emergency help FIRST if any of these:
- Ceiling sagging or bulging, or any structural movement → get out from under it; leave if spreading
- Gas odor → leave now, call your gas utility from outside
- Sparking, energized water, or a wet breaker panel → do not touch; call the electric utility or 911
- Large-scale sewage flooding → keep everyone (especially kids, pets, and medically vulnerable people) away from the water; call emergency services for any immediate medical or life-safety risk — otherwise isolate the area and use the sewer branch below
Safety information only: Conditions vary. This guidance is not a substitute for instructions from 911, utilities, public-health officials, licensed professionals, your insurer, or your policy. If anyone may be in danger, leave the area and call 911. Do not take any step you cannot perform safely.
What this means in Bell County
Between 2020 and 2024, 28 flood-insurance claims in Bell County recorded a building payment. 22 of them — 79% — came from losses in 2024. That works out to 0.2 claims per 1,000 homes over those years — 79th highest of 254 Texas counties. About 5.5 of every 1,000 homes here carry a flood-insurance policy — 127th highest of 254 Texas counties. Most of Bell County's recent flood-claim record comes from one year, so a run of quiet years here is not evidence that the next one will be quiet.
What's the source? Tap one — the right help depends on it.
sources & methodology · how this site works
You are not alone. First make the area safe. Then stop the source if you can do so without entering water or touching wet electrical equipment.
Local data through: NFIP claims 2026-05 · NOAA 2026-03 · FEMA declarations 2026-07
Bell County flood context
Four separately-sourced, area-level indicators — not a combined score, not a property-specific risk estimate, and NOT a measure of pipe/appliance/roof losses (no public dataset measures those directly).
Recent water-related disaster declarations — Bell County
FEMA disaster and emergency declarations whose incident type is explicitly mapped to residential water damage — including flood, tropical, severe-storm and freeze incidents — naming this county, most recent first. Major disaster (DR) and emergency (EM) declarations are labelled distinctly; all are historical records.
- FEMA DR-4781 (major disaster declaration) — Flood, declared 2024-05-17. Incident Apr 26, 2024 to Jun 5, 2024. Individual/Household Assistance approved for this county. Last assistance filing date Aug 15, 2024 — historical, not currently open for applications. FEMA disaster record
- FEMA DR-4586 (major disaster declaration) — Severe Ice Storm, declared 2021-02-19. Incident Feb 11, 2021 to Feb 21, 2021. Individual/Household Assistance approved for this county. Last assistance filing date May 20, 2021 — historical, not currently open for applications. FEMA disaster record
- FEMA EM-3554 (emergency declaration) — Severe Ice Storm, declared 2021-02-14. Incident Feb 11, 2021 to Feb 21, 2021. Individual/Household Assistance not approved for this county. FEMA disaster record
- FEMA EM-3294 (emergency declaration) — Hurricane, declared 2008-09-10. Incident Sep 7, 2008 to Sep 26, 2008. Individual/Household Assistance not approved for this county. FEMA disaster record
- FEMA DR-1709 (major disaster declaration) — Severe Storm, declared 2007-06-29. Incident Jun 16, 2007 to Aug 3, 2007. Individual/Household Assistance approved for this county. Last assistance filing date Oct 29, 2007 — historical, not currently open for applications. FEMA disaster record
When flash floods happen in Bell County
Recorded flash-flood reports in Bell County cluster in April and May (NOAA Storm Events, 36 event records by begin month since 2020).
Water utilities serving Bell County
Largest active community water systems by population served. Your utility's emergency line is printed on your water bill — for supply leaks and meter emergencies, that number beats any directory.
- CITY OF KILLEEN — about 161,027 people served · EPA-registered contact: 254-501-7700 (verified 2026Q3)
- CITY OF TEMPLE — about 94,935 people served · EPA-registered contact: 254-298-5700 (verified 2026Q3)
- CITY OF HARKER HEIGHTS — about 35,957 people served · EPA-registered contact: 254-953-5600 (verified 2026Q3)
- US ARMY SOUTH FORT CAVAZOS — about 35,669 people served · EPA-registered contact: 254-213-0948 (verified 2026Q3)
- CITY OF BELTON — about 23,054 people served · EPA-registered contact: 254-933-5818 (verified 2026Q3)
How population served is sourced (EPA SDWIS)
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), a federal database of public water systems, refreshed quarterly. County emergency management: Texas counties must maintain or participate in an emergency-management program; use the TDEM regional directory for state field contacts and verify the appropriate local contact.
Flood-insurance claims with building payments, by year of loss — Bell County
Claims with a recorded building payment > $0 (count), by year of loss · complete loss-years plus current-year to date · all values in the table below
| Year | Claims (count) | Median recorded building payment (nominal $) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | — |
| 2021 | 1 | — |
| 2022 | 3 | — |
| 2023 | 1 | — |
| 2024 | 22 | $15,500 |
| 2025 (provisional) | 3 | — |
| 2026 YTD (May) | 0 | — |
Claims for 2025 are still being filed and paid, so that year will keep rising as more are recorded. Our claims data runs through May 2026. Comparisons with other counties on this page use 2020–2024, where the record has settled.
The whole flood-claim record — Bell County
The chart above covers recent years. Over the whole NFIP record for Bell County — 1979 to 2025 — the totals are much larger. The worst single year on record is 2010, with 94 paid claims — 26% of everything on record for the county.
Year-by-year claim counts, whole record
| Year | Claims (count) |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 4 |
| 1980 | 4 |
| 1981 | 1 |
| 1982 | 1 |
| 1983 | 1 |
| 1984 | 3 |
| 1986 | 6 |
| 1990 | 3 |
| 1991 | 8 |
| 1992 | 3 |
| 1993 | 2 |
| 1994 | 2 |
| 1996 | 2 |
| 1997 | 10 |
| 1998 | 18 |
| 2000 | 2 |
| 2001 | 18 |
| 2003 | 2 |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2006 | 6 |
| 2007 | 46 |
| 2008 | 1 |
| 2009 | 15 |
| 2010 | 94 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2012 | 9 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2014 | 6 |
| 2015 | 23 |
| 2016 | 11 |
| 2017 | 17 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 3 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 22 |
| 2025 (provisional) | 3 |
Every year with at least one paid claim is listed. Dollar totals sum payments made across 47 years and are nominal dollars — not adjusted for inflation — a 1979 payment and a 2024 payment are added together as printed. Source: FEMA NFIP redacted claims.
Historical NFIP flood-claim outcomes — Bell County
Not a forecast for your loss. These are flood-insurance (NFIP) building claims only — a burst pipe or appliance leak is usually a homeowners-policy matter, and outcomes depend on your coverage, cause, and documentation.
City-level breakdowns, share-paid rates, and time-to-payment will publish only when claim-level geography and full methodology (numerators, denominators, status filters, code) are finalized and reproducible.
After the immediate emergency
Once the area is safe and the water is stopped, the full step-by-step lives on our statewide guide so it stays in one authoritative place:
How Bell County compares
Bell County ranks 127th highest of 254 Texas counties for how many homes carry flood insurance, at 5.5 per 1,000 against a state median of 5.5. The closest Texas county we publish on that measure is Starr County (5.6 per 1,000), which makes it the most useful single page to read beside this one. For every county and the counties we do not publish, see the Texas water damage guide.
Sources & methodology
- [1] FEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v2 — snapshot July 2026 · Bell County · building claims, payment > $0 · full field list, filters, and query: methodology page
- [2] FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 — county-designated declarations since 2015
- [3] NOAA Storm Events Database — flash-flood events, Bell County, Jan 2020 through 2026-03
- [4] FEMA NFIP Redacted Policies v2 — policies in force as of the 2026-07-20 snapshot (policy_count sum)
- [5] EPA — dry within 24–48 hours to reduce chance of mold growth · TDI — claim handling, CLUE, deductible law · your city water utility / 311 — shutoff guidance
Download this county's figures as data.json, or the complete dataset at The Texas Water Damage Ledger.
Every statistic on this page links to its methodology record (source dataset, formula, filters, date semantics, and minimum sample) — follow the "method" link on each figure. Estimates are labeled. County figures are NOT allocated to cities. This is general information only and not professional advice.