Flood Damage in the United States: Table 6-1

Flood Damage in the United States, 1926-2003
A Reanalysis of National Weather Service Estimates

Table 6-1. Comparison of Damage Estimates by State, 1955-1978 and 1983-1999. (States are ordered by increasing median damage. Missing estimates are treated as zero; all estimates are in millions of 1995 dollars.)

State	Region	Median Damage (all years)	Maximum Damage*	Years with no estimate	Years with 0 < estimate < or=1.0	Years with estimate > 100
Rhode Island	New England	0.00	143	33	5	1
Delaware		0.00	7	32	7	0
Massachusetts	New England	0.00	774	25	5	2
New Hampshire	New England	0.00	56	23	6	0
Hawaii		0.00	44	23	2	0
Connecticut	New England	0.00	1881	21	6	2
Vermont	New England	0.00	194	20	9	1
Wyoming	Arid West	0.05	53	17	14	0
Maine	New England	0.06	77	20	3	0
New Jersey		0.06	749	18	5	8
Alaska (29 yr)		0.07	383	14	4	1
Maryland & DC		0.14	681	15	14	1
Nevada	Arid West	0.16	616	13	12	1
Michigan		0.21	528	17	11	3
N. Dakota	N. Central	0.41	3280	14	9	4
S. Dakota	N. Central	0.51	796	10	13	4
Colorado	Arid West	0.57	1866	11	10	4
S. Carolina		0.66	40	5	18	0
New Mexico	Arid West	0.73	34	16	6	0
Utah	Arid West	0.84	712	7	14	2
Montana	Arid West	1.04	229	10	10	1
Idaho		1.21	1507	9	10	2
Wisconsin		1.61	943	11	8	4
Georgia	Southeast	1.86	307	5	7	3
Virginia		1.91	1042	9	9	6
Arizona	Arid West	2.27	306	7	9	4
Minnesota		2.40	1006	4	12	7
Florida	Southeast	2.48	410	6	9	5
N. Carolina		3.99	2919	5	5	3
Oregon	Pacific NW	4.06	3143	2	6	4
Washington	Pacific NW	4.32	363	5	7	3
Louisiana	Lower Miss.	5.60	3097	7	7	10
Tennessee	Southeast	6.01	193	2	8	1
Alabama	Southeast	6.10	351	4	4	3
Arkansas	Lower Miss.	6.87	712	2	6	4
Mississippi	Lower Miss.	8.07	1157	1	3	4
W. Virginia	Ohio R.	8.60	782	1	7	5
Kansas	Central	8.61	575	3	4	6
Oklahoma	Central	8.97	1045	4	8	5
Pennsylvania		10.39	8590	3	7	6
Nebraska	Upper Miss.	13.89	307	4	4	4
New York		14.60	2305	7	3	6
Illinois	Upper Miss.	15.31	2754	1	3	8
Iowa	Upper Miss.	17.18	5987	4	6	9
Kentucky	Ohio R.	17.67	453	1	7	7
Indiana	Ohio R.	19.29	310	0	3	3
Ohio	Ohio R.	22.06	313	3	5	4
Missouri	Upper Miss.	25.42	3577	0	7	12
California		45.64	2007	3	4	13
Texas		77.44	691	1	1	16

* Estimates of maximum damage can be misleading. For example, in Idaho the maximum was caused by failure of the Teton Dam in 1976; the worst damage directly from precipitation and streamflow is estimated at $120 million. In Texas, the maximum appears small but much greater damage occurred in a year not covered by this table ($3.76 billion in 1979).

Note: This table is also available in PDF Format.

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A report of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Weather Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Global Programs, pursuant to NOAA Award No. NA96GP0451 through a cooperative agreement. In partnership between the Environmental and Societal Impacts Group of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado.