States › Texas › Chambers County

Chambers 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 48071 · 48,865 residents (2021) · 597 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 53Tornado · 33Flood · 49Wind · 76Winter · 4

Chambers 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 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Chambers County, Texas, has 278 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 46.6 events per 100 square miles, below the Texas figure of 63.3, and 56.9 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

1 event fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 7 deaths and 10 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $394M and crop damage at $7.3M.

FEMA has designated the county in 23 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Beryl (major disaster, 9 Jul 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 2,096 claims since 1978, of which 1,752 were paid, totalling $129M (about $74K per paid claim). FEMA counts 3,453 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($30M a year across 18 hazards).

73 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 17 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

1events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

278events since 19507 deaths, 10 injuries recorded

23disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

2,096NFIP flood claims$129M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Chambers County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	278	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	46.6	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	56.9	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	1	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	7	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$394M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	42.9	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$74K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	32.5	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: 2Wind: 1

Hail: 3Tornado: 3Wind: 1

Tornado: 5

Hail: 9Tornado: 8Wind: 13

Hail: 26Tornado: 4Flood: 14Wind: 32Winter: 1Tropical: 2Heat: 2Drought: 7Other: 2

Hail: 12Tornado: 6Flood: 16Wind: 18Winter: 2Tropical: 8Heat: 5Drought: 2Lightning: 1Other: 5

Hail: 2Tornado: 3Flood: 16Wind: 7Tropical: 3Lightning: 3Other: 5

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Flood: 3Wind: 4Winter: 1Tropical: 2Heat: 5Drought: 8Other: 3

31950s71960s51970s301980s901990s752000s392010s292020s

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

Trend: 85 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 155 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

Wind76

Hail53

Flood49

Tornado33

Drought17

Tropical15

Other15

Heat12

Winter4

Lightning4

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	76	—	0.2%	detail
■ Hail	53	—	0.1%	detail
■ Flood	49	—	0.3%	detail
■ Tornado	33	4	0.3%	detail
■ Drought	17	—	0.1%
■ Tropical	15	—	2.6%
■ Other	15	—	0.8%
■ Heat	12	1	0.2%
■ Winter	4	—	0.0%
■ Lightning	4	2	0.4%

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
27 May 1969	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25K	—	3	—	County
24 Jun 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
28 Oct 1974	Tornado	Tornado	F3	—	—	1	—	County
24 Aug 2000	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
22 Sep 2005	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
12 Sep 2008	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$300M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
19 Sep 2019	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$80M	—	—	—	County
17 Nov 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$100K	—	—	5	County
5 Jun 1981	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
9 Mar 1971	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	—	1	County
19 Sep 1980	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	1	County
28 Dec 2024	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	—	—	—	1	County
1 Aug 1998	Drought	Drought	—	$1.0M	$7.3M	—	—	Forecast zone
23 Sep 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$8.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
25 Aug 2017	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
5 Jun 2001	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$597K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
12 Sep 2007	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
17 Nov 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$300K	—	—	—	County
28 Oct 1974	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
20 May 1983	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$250K	—	—	—	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
9 Jul 2024	DR-4798	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Beryl	Individual assistance, 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
24 Aug 2020	EM-3540	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storms Marco And Laura	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
4 Oct 2019	DR-4466	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Imelda	Individual assistance
25 Aug 2017	DR-4332	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Harvey	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Sep 2008	DR-1791	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ike	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Sep 2008	EM-3294	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ike	Public assistance
29 Aug 2008	EM-3290	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
18 Aug 2007	EM-3277	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dean	Public assistance
11 Jan 2006	DR-1624	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Wildfire Threat	Public assistance
24 Sep 2005	DR-1606	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Rita	Individual assistance, 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
1 Feb 2003	EM-3171	Emergency	Other	Loss Of The Space Shuttle Columbia	Public assistance
9 Jun 2001	DR-1379	Major disaster	Coastal Storm	Tx-Tropical Storm Allison-06-06-2001	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Sep 1999	EM-3142	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazards	Public assistance
26 Aug 1998	DR-1239	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Charley	—
18 Oct 1994	DR-1041	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Thunderstorms And Flooding	Individual assistance
19 Aug 1983	DR-689	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Alicia	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Jul 1979	DR-595	Major disaster	Flood	Storms & Flash Floods	Individual 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 Chambers County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19782,096

Paid claims1,752

Total paid$129M

Average paid claim$74K

Repetitive-loss properties17634 severe

Residential policies in force3,45322.7% of 15,241 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	2	1	$3,927	$3,927
2024	31	22	$579,801	$26,355
2023	1	0	$0	—
2021	7	0	$0	—
2020	2	0	$0	—
2019	347	332	$31,473,252	$94,799
2018	5	1	$127,032	$127,032
2017	728	639	$70,992,123	$111,099
2016	11	9	$194,765	$21,641
2015	6	5	$17,729	$3,546
2014	2	1	$9,519	$9,519
2013	2	2	$13,868	$6,934
2009	37	31	$675,431	$21,788
2008	417	321	$20,968,326	$65,322
2007	9	7	$95,500	$13,643
2006	38	31	$706,891	$22,803
2005	19	3	$86,789	$28,930
2004	19	16	$324,210	$20,263
2003	11	10	$73,289	$7,329
2002	2	1	$1,109	$1,109
2001	21	13	$212,520	$16,348
2000	6	5	$51,874	$10,375
1999	4	4	$20,244	$5,061
1998	42	39	$211,333	$5,419
1996	24	23	$163,264	$7,098

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 Lowscore 51.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$30MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$11,020,549
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$7,587,152
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$5,724,142
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$1,638,159
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$1,054,829
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$763,224
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$648,173
Drought	Relatively Low	$628,894
Coastal flooding	Relatively Low	$533,185
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$353,986
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$207,705
Hail	Very Low	$196,648
Earthquake	Very Low	$49,674
Winter weather	Very Low	$24,003
Landslide	Very Low	$79

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 miles73

Tracks within 50 miles39

Hurricane strength within 50 miles17

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	85 mi	81 mph
Nicholas	2021	15 mi	75 mph
Laura	2020	82 mi	150 mph
Delta	2020	94 mi	104 mph
Imelda	2019	65 mi	46 mph
Cindy	2017	59 mi	52 mph
Harvey	2017	67 mi	52 mph
Edouard	2008	22 mi	63 mph
Ike	2008	27 mi	109 mph
Humberto	2007	21 mi	92 mph
Rita	2005	58 mi	115 mph
Grace	2003	38 mi	40 mph
Allison	2001	47 mi	58 mph
Dean	1995	51 mi	46 mph
Allison	1989	51 mi	52 mph
Chantal	1989	17 mi	81 mph
Jerry	1989	40 mi	86 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1987	17 mi	46 mph
Bonnie	1986	26 mi	86 mph
Alicia	1983	49 mi	115 mph
Chris	1982	53 mi	63 mph
Danielle	1980	25 mi	58 mph
Claudette	1979	47 mi	52 mph
Debra	1978	65 mi	58 mph
Delia	1973	50 mi	69 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

77665 690
77523 593
77514 505
77560 74
77661 37
77597 22
77580 13

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 Chambers County, TX?

NCEI records 53 hail events in Chambers County since 1950, in 25 different years; that is about 0.7 recorded events a year. 22 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Chambers County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 33 tornadoes in Chambers County since 1950, 6 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 4.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Chambers County?

9 Jul 2024: Hurricane Beryl, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 23 declarations since 1953.

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

2,096 NFIP claims since 1978, 1,752 of them paid, for $129M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Chambers County compare with the rest of Texas?

46.6 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 42.9 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 1 Oct 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 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.