States › Texas › 1998

Texas, 1998

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

4,092events recorded3,998 in 1997

121deaths recorded6,442 injuries

$1.1Bproperty damage (estimates)$1.4B crop damage

34disaster declarations12,582 NFIP claims, $265M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders.

Events by hazard

Hail1,236

Wind967

Drought691

Flood656

Winter172

Tornado123

Other104

Heat73

Tropical36

Lightning33

Fog1

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1998 was 4,092 against 3,998 in 1997.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 1998
Harris County	85
Tarrant County	70
Collin County	42
Denton County	42
Smith County	42
Tom Green County	42
McLennan County	40
Wichita County	39
Dallas County	37
Galveston County	37
Henderson County	34
Bexar County	33
Montgomery County	33
Bell County	32
Gregg County	32
Brazoria County	31
Palo Pinto County	30
Parker County	29
Clay County	28
Colorado County	28
Cooke County	28
Ellis County	28
Archer County	27
Hunt County	27
Jefferson County	27

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
1 Jul 1998	Dallas	Heat	—	—	23	—
17 Oct 1998	Bexar	Flash Flood	—	$8,000,000	11	600
17 Oct 1998	Caldwell	Flash Flood	—	$20,000,000	6	500
23 Aug 1998	Val Verde	Flash Flood	—	$40,000,000	9	150
17 Oct 1998	Comal	Flash Flood	—	$50,000,000	2	800
17 Oct 1998	Guadalupe	Flash Flood	—	$5,000,000	4	500
22 Dec 1998	McLennan	Ice Storm	—	—	6	—
18 Oct 1998	Forecast zone	Flood	—	$30,000,000	—	500
18 Oct 1998	DeWitt	Flash Flood	—	$5,000,000	—	500
18 Oct 1998	Gonzales	Flash Flood	—	$500,000	—	500
3 Aug 1998	Dallas	Heat	—	—	5	—
1 Jul 1998	Angelina	Heat	—	—	5	—
23 Aug 1998	Real	Flash Flood	—	$600,000	4	—
1 Jul 1998	Denton	Heat	—	—	4	—
1 Jul 1998	Tarrant	Heat	—	—	4	—
18 Oct 1998	Lavaca	Flash Flood	—	$3,000,000	—	300
17 Oct 1998	Guadalupe	Flood	—	$5,000,000	—	250
7 Sep 1998	Galveston	Tropical Storm	—	$200,000,000	2	—
17 Oct 1998	Wilson	Flood	—	$50,000,000	—	150
17 Oct 1998	Gonzales	Flood	—	$8,000,000	—	150
17 Oct 1998	Travis	Flash Flood	—	$1,500,000	1	50
17 Oct 1998	Navarro	Tornado	F2	$100,000	1	4
18 Oct 1998	Wilson	Flash Flood	—	$35,000,000	—	100
7 Sep 1998	Brazoria	Tropical Storm	—	$28,700,000	1	—
18 Oct 1998	Waller	Tornado	F2	$75,000	1	1
14 Aug 1998	Jefferson	Thunderstorm Wind	—	$75,000	1	1
17 Oct 1998	Bexar	Flood	—	$8,000,000	—	100
17 Oct 1998	Bexar	Flood	—	$8,000,000	—	100
17 Oct 1998	Bastrop	Flash Flood	—	$3,000,000	—	100
17 Oct 1998	Hays	Flash Flood	—	$500,000	—	100
17 Oct 1998	Uvalde	Flash Flood	—	$10,000	1	—
2 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
2 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
3 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
3 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
3 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
5 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
5 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—
4 Dec 1998	Dallas	Flash Flood	—	—	1	—
6 Aug 1998	Harris	Heat	—	—	1	—

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 1998

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
21 Oct 1998	DR-1257	Major disaster	Flood	Tx-Flooding 10/18/98	43
23 Sep 1998	DR-1245	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Hurricane Georges - Texas	5
9 Sep 1998	FM-2246	Fire management assistance	Fire	Mexico Fire	0
8 Sep 1998	FM-2245	Fire management assistance	Fire	Potosi Fire	0
5 Sep 1998	FM-2244	Fire management assistance	Fire	Speegleville Fire	0
4 Sep 1998	FM-2242	Fire management assistance	Fire	Wood Branch Village Fire	0
4 Sep 1998	FM-2241	Fire management assistance	Fire	Lindale Fire	0
4 Sep 1998	FM-2240	Fire management assistance	Fire	Frontage Fire	0
4 Sep 1998	FM-2239	Fire management assistance	Fire	Blanton Fire	0
2 Sep 1998	FM-2238	Fire management assistance	Fire	Fm 362 Fire	0
26 Aug 1998	DR-1239	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Charley	254
5 Aug 1998	FM-2235	Fire management assistance	Fire	Denson Springs Fire	0
3 Aug 1998	FM-2234	Fire management assistance	Fire	North Pacific Fire	0
3 Aug 1998	FM-2233	Fire management assistance	Fire	Union Chapel Ii Fire	0
2 Aug 1998	FM-2232	Fire management assistance	Fire	Highway Lake Fire	0
2 Aug 1998	FM-2231	Fire management assistance	Fire	Crossroads Fire	0
1 Aug 1998	FM-2230	Fire management assistance	Fire	Weatherford Fire	0
31 Jul 1998	FM-2229	Fire management assistance	Fire	Rocky Branch Fire	0
31 Jul 1998	FM-2228	Fire management assistance	Fire	Piney Creek Fire	0
30 Jul 1998	FM-2227	Fire management assistance	Fire	White Bluff Fire	0
26 Jul 1998	FM-2224	Fire management assistance	Fire	Live Oak Fire	0
26 Jul 1998	FM-2223	Fire management assistance	Fire	Herron Fire	0
23 Jul 1998	FM-2222	Fire management assistance	Fire	Brazeline Fire	0
23 Jul 1998	FM-2221	Fire management assistance	Fire	Elm Branch Fire	0
22 Jul 1998	FM-2220	Fire management assistance	Fire	City Lake Fire	0
12 Jul 1998	FM-2219	Fire management assistance	Fire	Mazamec Fire	0
10 Jul 1998	FM-2218	Fire management assistance	Fire	Sterling Fire	0
2 Jul 1998	FM-2217	Fire management assistance	Fire	Park Lake Fire	0
29 Jun 1998	FM-2216	Fire management assistance	Fire	Cash Johnson Fire	0
23 Jun 1998	EM-3127	Emergency	Fire	Fire	0
20 Jun 1998	FM-2210	Fire management assistance	Fire	Perry Fire	0
18 Jun 1998	FM-2202	Fire management assistance	Fire	Paradise Fire	0
15 May 1998	FM-2199	Fire management assistance	Fire	Cibolo Creek Fire	0
11 May 1998	FM-2198	Fire management assistance	Fire	Camp Wood Hills Fire	0

Flood insurance claims with a 1998 date of loss

12,582 NFIP claims, 10,273 of them paid, for $265,279,466.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.