States › Texas › Bastrop County

Bastrop County, Texas

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 48021 · 102,058 residents (2021) · 888 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 146Tornado · 35Flood · 102Wind · 104Winter · 26

Bastrop County within Texas. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

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. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 490 events for Bastrop County, Texas, between 1950 and 2026; hail account for the largest share.

That is 55.2 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Texas figure of 63.3, and 48.0 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

12 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 4 deaths and 121 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $271M and crop damage at $343K.

FEMA has designated the county in 31 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (major disaster, 21 Apr 2023).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 331 claims since 1978, of which 273 were paid, totalling $9.9M (about $36K per paid claim). FEMA counts 474 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($43M a year across 18 hazards).

32 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

12events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

490events since 19504 deaths, 121 injuries recorded

31disaster declarationslast 21 Apr 2023

331NFIP flood claims$9.9M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Bastrop County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	490	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	55.2	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	48.0	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	12	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	4	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$271M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	3.2	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$36K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	9.7	24.7	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 4

Hail: 1Tornado: 2

Hail: 3Tornado: 4Wind: 5

Hail: 16Tornado: 4Wind: 8

Hail: 26Tornado: 8Flood: 6Wind: 23Winter: 2Drought: 5

Hail: 15Tornado: 3Flood: 42Wind: 24Winter: 4Drought: 4

Hail: 57Tornado: 5Flood: 53Wind: 34Winter: 8Tropical: 1Heat: 1Drought: 24Wildfire: 2Lightning: 1Other: 1

Hail: 28Tornado: 5Flood: 1Wind: 10Winter: 12Heat: 4Cold: 5Drought: 27Wildfire: 2

41950s31960s121970s281980s701990s922000s1872010s942020s

Recorded events in Bastrop County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 307 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 132 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Hail146

Wind104

Flood102

Drought60

Tornado35

Winter26

Heat5

Cold5

Wildfire4

Tropical1

Lightning1

Other1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	146	—	0.3%	detail
■ Wind	104	—	0.2%	detail
■ Flood	102	2	0.6%	detail
■ Drought	60	—	0.3%
■ Tornado	35	—	0.3%	detail
■ Winter	26	—	0.3%	detail
■ Heat	5	—	0.1%
■ Cold	5	—	0.2%
■ Wildfire	4	2	0.3%
■ Tropical	1	—	0.2%
■ Lightning	1	—	0.1%
■ Other	1	—	0.1%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
4 Sep 2011	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$250M	—	2	—	Forecast zone
17 Oct 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$3.0M	$100K	—	100	County
8 Apr 2002	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$20K	—	1	—	County
5 Nov 2002	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
17 Oct 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$8.0M	$50K	—	10	Forecast zone
15 Nov 2001	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$80K	—	—	5	County
28 Apr 1953	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25K	—	—	3	County
24 Apr 1957	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	1	County
17 Oct 1998	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$30K	—	—	1	County
25 May 2015	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	—	—	—	1	County
30 Oct 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.1M	—	—	—	County
25 May 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	County
27 Aug 2017	Flood	Flood	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	County
1 Feb 2023	Winter Weather	Winter	—	$1.2M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
17 Nov 1971	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
7 Apr 1980	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	—	County
14 Jan 1991	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
19 Mar 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$100K	$100K	—	—	County
22 Jul 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$150K	—	—	—	County
4 Apr 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$100K	$20K	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
21 Apr 2023	DR-4705	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
19 Feb 2021	DR-4586	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Feb 2021	EM-3554	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
25 Mar 2020	DR-4485	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3458	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
25 Aug 2017	DR-4332	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Harvey	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Jun 2016	DR-4272	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Apr 2016	DR-4269	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
25 Nov 2015	DR-4245	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Oct 2015	FM-5116	Fire management assistance	Fire	Hidden Pines Fire	Public assistance
29 May 2015	DR-4223	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Sep 2011	DR-4029	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Sep 2011	FM-2958	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bastrop County Fire Complex	Public assistance
1 Jul 2011	DR-1999	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
10 Apr 2009	FM-2806	Fire management assistance	Fire	Montague Fire Complex	Public assistance
28 Feb 2009	FM-2796	Fire management assistance	Fire	Wilderness Ridge Fire	Public assistance
14 Mar 2008	EM-3284	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
19 Jan 2006	FM-2622	Fire management assistance	Fire	Orchard Fire	Public assistance
11 Jan 2006	DR-1624	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Wildfire Threat	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Jan 2006	FM-2612	Fire management assistance	Fire	Cedar Creek Fire	Public assistance
24 Sep 2005	DR-1606	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Rita	Public assistance
21 Sep 2005	EM-3261	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Rita	Public assistance
2 Sep 2005	EM-3216	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
5 Jan 2000	FM-2291	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bob'S Trail Fire	Public assistance
1 Sep 1999	EM-3142	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazards	Public assistance
21 Oct 1998	DR-1257	Major disaster	Flood	Tx-Flooding 10/18/98	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Aug 1998	DR-1239	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Charley	—
23 Feb 1996	EM-3117	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
18 Oct 1994	DR-1041	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Thunderstorms And Flooding	Individual assistance
10 Sep 1993	EM-3113	Emergency	Drought	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
26 Dec 1991	DR-930	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Thunderstorms	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Bastrop County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978331

Paid claims273

Total paid$9.9M

Average paid claim$36K

Repetitive-loss properties398 severe

Residential policies in force4741.3% of 37,299 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2022	1	0	$0	—
2021	3	2	$62,321	$31,160
2018	2	1	$9,119	$9,119
2017	40	32	$1,483,431	$46,357
2016	93	84	$3,140,783	$37,390
2015	100	80	$3,311,793	$41,397
2014	2	2	$3,434	$1,717
2013	2	1	$47,866	$47,866
2012	11	10	$218,842	$21,884
2009	1	0	$0	—
2007	3	1	$169,231	$169,231
2006	1	1	$3,904	$3,904
2004	9	9	$262,101	$29,122
2003	1	1	$5,228	$5,228
2001	7	1	$28,679	$28,679
1998	26	25	$795,279	$31,811
1996	1	0	$0	—
1991	17	13	$328,493	$25,269
1989	1	1	$12,102	$12,102
1987	2	2	$13,001	$6,500
1986	1	0	$0	—
1985	2	2	$16,447	$8,224
1981	3	3	$4,114	$1,371
1980	1	1	$2,257	$2,257
1979	1	1	$7,279	$7,279

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Moderatescore 81.2 of 100

Expected annual loss$43MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$26,739,853
Tornado	Relatively High	$7,429,411
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,541,396
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,782,820
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$1,147,669
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$872,395
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$708,302
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$480,886
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$279,037
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$199,186
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$189,147
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$116,043
Earthquake	Very Low	$29,514
Landslide	Very Low	$778

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles32

Tracks within 50 miles6

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	96 mi	81 mph
Beta	2020	95 mi	40 mph
Harvey	2017	58 mi	75 mph
Bill	2015	73 mi	46 mph
Hermine	2010	91 mi	46 mph
Chantal	1989	87 mi	40 mph
Alicia	1983	83 mi	46 mph
Danielle	1980	82 mi	40 mph
Delia	1973	64 mi	40 mph
Candy	1968	19 mi	46 mph
Abby	1964	84 mi	40 mph
Carla	1961	33 mi	81 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	79 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	66 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	61 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1942	90 mi	98 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	30 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	91 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1921	86 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	49 mi	86 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1909	74 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	9 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1901	96 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1900	67 mi	104 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1897	77 mi	58 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

78602 152
78957 108
78612 49
78621 28
78659 8

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Bastrop County, TX?

NCEI records 146 hail events in Bastrop County since 1950, in 40 different years; that is about 1.9 recorded events a year. 49 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Bastrop County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 35 tornadoes in Bastrop County since 1950, 8 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Bastrop County?

21 Apr 2023: Severe Winter Storm, a major disaster declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 31 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Bastrop County, and how much was paid?

331 NFIP claims since 1978, 273 of them paid, for $9.9M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Bastrop County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Moderate" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Moderate" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Bastrop County compare with the rest of Texas?

55.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 3.2 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 13.4. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 29 Sep 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.