Flood Insurance in Texas
Most home insurance policies do not cover flood damage. In a state where water is the disaster that finds people, that surprises families at the worst possible moment. A flood policy is separate, it is not expensive to talk about, and we can tell you plainly whether your address makes it worth it.
Your home policy and flood water
Home insurance generally covers water that falls or bursts from above: a storm tears the roof, a pipe lets go. Rising water from outside the house, the kind that comes up from a creek, a bayou, or a sheet of rain with nowhere to go, is flood damage, and most home policies exclude it entirely.
Flood coverage comes as its own policy, most commonly through the National Flood Insurance Program and also from some private companies. A flood policy can cover your home up to 250,000 dollars, and a separate contents policy can cover your belongings up to 100,000 dollars.
Flood zones are not the whole story
If your lender requires flood insurance, you are likely in a designated high risk flood zone, an area with a one percent chance of flooding in any given year. But floods do not read maps. On average, about forty percent of federal flood insurance claims come from outside the high risk areas.
The official flood map for any Texas address is free to check. Look yours up, then bring us the address and the question. Whether coverage is worth it depends on the ground under your specific house, not the county in general.
The thirty day wait
Most flood policies have a thirty day waiting period before coverage begins. When a storm is named and headed for the coast, it is too late to buy protection from it. The time to decide about flood insurance is on an ordinary day, which is probably today.
Buying a home is the other moment to decide. Closing on a house near a creek or in a low spot is exactly when a flood policy should be part of the conversation, and if a lender requires it, we help you get it placed in time for closing.
What to have ready
Start with the address. Everything else follows from it.
- The property address, and whether you own or are buying
- What the FEMA map says, if you already looked
- Your current home policy, if you have one
- Any past water trouble at the property that you know about
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Flood insurance questions we hear
Does my homeowners policy cover flooding?
Most home policies do not cover flood damage. Rising water from outside the home needs its own flood policy, most commonly through the National Flood Insurance Program.
How much can a flood policy cover?
A flood policy can cover the home itself up to 250,000 dollars, and a separate contents policy can cover belongings up to 100,000 dollars. What the right amounts are depends on your house and what is in it.
I am not in a flood zone. Should I still think about it?
Worth thinking about, yes. About forty percent of federal flood claims come from outside the mapped high risk areas. Check your address on the official FEMA map, then decide with the facts for your spot.
How fast does coverage start?
Most flood policies wait thirty days before coverage begins, so a policy bought when a storm is already coming will not cover that storm. Decide early, not during the forecast.
My lender says I need flood insurance. What now?
That usually means the home sits in a designated flood zone. Bring us the address and the closing date, and we help you get a policy placed in time.
Where do I check the flood map for my address?
FEMA publishes the official flood map, searchable by address, free. Our county pages link it too. Use the map as the starting point, then bring us the address for the coverage conversation.
Where these facts come from: Texas Department of Insurance, Flood insurance: why you need a policy (opens in a new tab) FEMA Flood Map Service Center (opens in a new tab) Read September 21, 2026. Program limits and rules can change; the linked pages are the current word.
Check the map, then call
Look up your address on the FEMA map, then tell us what it says. A licensed agent walks you through whether a flood policy makes sense for your spot, in plain language.
Stover & Crouch Insurance Madisonville, Texas, since 1920