In 2013, homeowners in ZIP code 78744 filed 324 claims on federal flood insurance, and FEMA's records show $16.3 million paid on the buildings. Thirteen years later, the same ZIP has 187 federal flood policies in force. In July 2013, before the flood, it had 483.
The flood was the one that came overnight on October 30–31, 2013, when Onion Creek rose in southeast Austin. The anniversary is October 31. The numbers below do not say who stayed, who sold or who dropped coverage, and we will be plain about that. They do show how much the paper trail on flood risk in this ZIP has changed, and they point to three questions worth asking about any home near the creek.
What the FEMA record shows
We summarized OpenFEMA's claim and policy files by mailing ZIP and year. The table follows 78744 through the years that matter.
| Year | Policies in force (July 1) | Claims | Paid on buildings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 482 | 0 | $0 |
| 2013 | 483 | 324 | $16.26 million |
| 2014 | 495 | 0 | $0 |
| 2015 | 366 | 140 | $4.13 million |
| 2016 | 344 | 8 | $0.39 million |
| 2017 | 242 | 0 | $0 |
| 2021 | 241 | 1 | $0.05 million |
| 2025 | 187 | 0 | $0 |
Three things stand out. First, 2013 was not the only bad year: the file has 164 claims in 2001 and 140 in 2015, so this part of Austin has flooded more than once in the record. Second, the average payment in 2013 works out to about $50,000 a claim (our arithmetic: $16.26 million across 324 claims). Third, since 2022 the ZIP has logged no claims at all.
The policy count is the surprise. It held near 480–495 through 2014, then fell to 366 in 2015 and 242 in 2017, and has drifted down to 187. That is 61% fewer policies than in July 2013. The annual premium collected on those policies fell too, from about $421,000 in 2013 to about $141,000 in 2025.
What the data cannot tell you
FEMA's file records policies, not reasons. The drop is steepest in 2015 through 2017, which are also the years the City of Austin was buying out flooded Onion Creek homes. FEMA's own case study says the City's program addressed 533 properties after the 2013 flood, that Austin's council authorized buyouts for 232 houses in March 2015, and that bought homes must be demolished and the land kept as permanent open space. A house that no longer exists no longer carries a policy. That fits the timing, but we cannot show from this data that buyouts explain the decline, and some of it will be paid-off mortgages and lapsed coverage.
Two other limits matter. FEMA reports the mailing ZIP, not a boundary drawn around the creek, so 78744 includes streets well away from Onion Creek. And these are National Flood Insurance Program policies only; private flood coverage does not appear.
The ZIPs next door
| ZIP | Policies, 2013 | Policies, 2025 | 2013 claims | 2013 paid on buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78744 | 483 | 187 | 324 | $16.26 million |
| 78745 | 600 | 517 | 85 | $1.99 million |
| 78747 | 262 | 246 | 122 | $11.43 million |
The pattern differs. In 78745 the policy count slipped 14% and in 78747 about 6%, while 78744 lost most of its policies. Same flood, different outcomes on the paper record. We are not ranking these ZIPs, and a ZIP is far too coarse to judge any home: flood risk follows the ground, the creek and the lot, not the mailing address.
What the weather service recorded
The National Weather Service's review of the event describes rain from the evening of October 30 through late afternoon on October 31, 2013, with 6 to 10 inches across Hays, western Comal and central Travis counties and a bull's-eye of 12 to 14 inches between Wimberley and Driftwood. Its event summary includes a hydrograph for Onion Creek at U.S. 183. A flash flood in a creek watershed arrives fast, which is one reason a mapped floodplain line tells you only part of what a lender or an insurer cares about.
What this means if you're buying, selling or owning here
Buying. Start with the address, not the ZIP. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center shows the regulatory flood zone for a specific property, and our Austin home research tool returns the mapped flood zone and sources for an address. Under the National Flood Insurance Act, lenders must require flood insurance on a federally regulated mortgage when the home is in a regulatory floodplain, and FEMA says homeowners' policies do not cover flooding as a rule. Flood coverage normally has a 30-day waiting period, but FEMA notes there is none when the coverage is bought for a new mortgage at closing, so ask a lender about timing early.
Selling. The Texas seller's disclosure notice, under Property Code section 5.008, asks sellers whether they know of present flood insurance, previous water penetration into the structure from a natural flood event, and whether the property is wholly or partly in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain, a floodway, a flood pool or a reservoir. Answers go on a form you sign. If you are unsure of a past event, your agent can point you to the records, and for questions about what you must disclose, ask a real estate attorney.
Owning. A policy count that fell by more than half does not mean the risk fell with it. If you own near a creek and are not sure whether you are covered, a licensed insurance agent can tell you what an NFIP or private policy would cost and what it would pay. We do not give insurance advice, and nothing here is a statement about any house.
Three questions to ask about any home near a creek
- What flood zone is this exact address in on FEMA's current map, and when was that map panel last updated?
- Has the seller reported water in the house or a flood insurance policy, and can the lender or insurer quote coverage before the option period ends?
- If the lot is next to a bought-out parcel or open space, what does the City say may be built or not built around it?
How we counted
The figures come from OpenFEMA's redacted claims and policy files for Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties, summed by reported ZIP and year. Claims are counted by year of loss; policies in force are counted on July 1 each year, and FEMA's policy records start in 2009. The 61% decline is our arithmetic: 483 policies in July 2013 to 187 in July 2025. All figures are for the NFIP only, and the source was last updated on June 1, 2026. For older flood events and the City's creek flooding projects, see our earlier piece on Hyde Park's flood fix; for what a flood-risk question does to a closing budget, see buying in a MUD.
The 78744 ZIP page and the 78745 page carry the area-level records we hold. If you are looking at a home near Onion Creek or any other Austin creek and want help reading its flood history before you write an offer, talk to a local agent on our team.