Independent information service · not a government agency
Bexar County, Texas — water emergency guide

Water damage in Bexar County

Not affiliated with Bexar County, any city government, FEMA, TDI, or any government agency.

Leave and call for emergency help FIRST if any of these:

None of these? Continue 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 Bexar County

Between 2020 and 2024, 55 flood-insurance claims in Bexar County recorded a building payment. 42 of them — 76% — came from losses in 2021. That works out to 0.1 claims per 1,000 homes over those years — 117th highest of 254 Texas counties. About 5.8 of every 1,000 homes here carry a flood-insurance policy — 124th highest of 254 Texas counties. Most of Bexar 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.

Do this first: shut off your home's main water supply if you can reach it safely.Right help: a plumber to stop the source, plus water removal if flooding is significant. Full steps → statewide guide
Do this first: do not get on the roof — move valuables clear and catch drips from inside.Right help: emergency roof covering (a tarp) first, then water cleanup inside. Full steps → statewide guide
Do this first: stop using sinks, toilets, and drains, and keep people and pets away from the water.Right help: a plumber, possibly the utility, and specialized cleanup — the water is contaminated. Full steps → statewide guide
Do this first: do not walk or drive into moving water.Right help: stay out of moving water; water removal once entry stops. Describe the observed source and events accurately to your insurer; do not speculate. Full steps → statewide guide
Do this first: notify your landlord, property manager, or HOA now and photograph everything.Responsibility and coverage depend on the cause, the policies, and any lease or association documents. Notify the appropriate owner, manager, association, and insurer, and document the damage before authorizing non-emergency repairs. Renters: your policy may cover belongings and temporary housing after a covered loss. Full steps → statewide guide
Do this first: shut off your main water cutoff if you can reach it safely.Not sure? Shut the private cutoff if safe and describe what you see when you call — a pro can triage by phone. Full steps → statewide guide
General information only — not professional advice; see the safety notice above.
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

Bexar 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).

6
water-related federal disaster declarations naming Bexar County since 2015 · method
1 flood · 3 hurricanes · 2 ice storms
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries
89 event records
flash floods recorded in the county, 2020 through 2026-03 · method
NOAA Storm Events Database
4,779
5.8 per 1,000 homes — 124th highest of 254 Texas counties (state median 5.5) · method
flood insurance policies in force in the county (as of July 2026) · method
FEMA NFIP policies
77
0.1 per 1,000 homes (2020–2024) — 117th highest of 254 Texas counties · method
flood-insurance claims with dates of loss 2020–2025 and recorded building payments · method
FEMA NFIP claims, claims with dates of loss through May 2026

Recent water-related disaster declarations — Bexar 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.

How this is sourced & what assistance status means

When flash floods happen in Bexar County

Recorded flash-flood reports in Bexar County cluster in May, June, and August (NOAA Storm Events, 89 event records by begin month since 2020).

Water utilities serving Bexar 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.

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 — Bexar 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

44332211avg per loss year 2020–2025 · 13202020212022202320242025
Claims with a recorded building payment > $0, Bexar County, by year of loss (count)
YearClaims (count)Median recorded building payment (nominal $)
20200
202142$10,200
20222
20236
20245
2025 (provisional)22$14,900
2026 YTD (May)1

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 — Bexar County

The chart above covers recent years. Over the whole NFIP record for Bexar County — 1978 to 2026 — the totals are much larger. The worst single year on record is 1998, with 317 paid claims — 21% of everything on record for the county.

1,516
flood-insurance claims with a recorded building payment, 1978–2026 · method
$27 million
total recorded building payments over the same years (nominal dollars — not adjusted for inflation) · method
1980199020002010
Year-by-year claim counts, whole record
YearClaims (count)
197850
197918
198032
198128
198218
19836
19844
19855
198671
198720
19885
19891
199012
199118
199226
199338
19944
19951
19961
19978
1998317
19992
200018
200135
2002164
20034
200457
20067
200789
200942
201026
20116
201221
2013153
201411
201548
201637
20177
201820
20198
202142
20222
20236
20245
2025 (provisional)22
20261

Every year with at least one paid claim is listed. Dollar totals sum payments made across 49 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 — Bexar 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.

$11,400
from 65 claims
median recorded building payment, claims with dates of loss in the last 5 years · method
$6k – $49k
middle half of paid claims (25th–75th pct) · method

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 Bexar County compares

Bexar County ranks 124th highest of 254 Texas counties for how many homes carry flood insurance, at 5.8 per 1,000 against a state median of 5.5. The closest Texas county we publish on that measure is Lamar County (5.8 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

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.