States › Texas › Cherokee County

Cherokee 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 48073 · 51,097 residents (2021) · 1,053 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 199Tornado · 45Flood · 78Wind · 254Winter · 30

Cherokee 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.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 752 storm events in Cherokee County, Texas, led by damaging wind.

That is 71.4 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Texas figure of 63.3, and 147.2 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

19 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 5 deaths and 115 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $42M and crop damage at $5K.

FEMA has designated the county in 28 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 66 claims since 1978, of which 43 were paid, totalling $625K (about $15K per paid claim). FEMA counts 107 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" ($17M a year across 18 hazards).

24 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

19events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

752events since 19505 deaths, 115 injuries recorded

28disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

66NFIP flood claims$625K paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Cherokee County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	752	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	71.4	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	147.2	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	19	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	5	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$42M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.3	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$15K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	14.0	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

Hail: 1Tornado: 4

Hail: 1Tornado: 6

Hail: 5Tornado: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 23Tornado: 4Wind: 19

Hail: 52Tornado: 6Flood: 7Wind: 68Winter: 3Drought: 3Lightning: 1

Hail: 49Tornado: 6Flood: 13Wind: 51Winter: 3Tropical: 1Heat: 1Drought: 1Lightning: 1

Hail: 43Tornado: 10Flood: 36Wind: 73Winter: 13Heat: 21Cold: 2Drought: 28Wildfire: 3Lightning: 1

Hail: 25Tornado: 7Flood: 22Wind: 40Winter: 11Tropical: 1Heat: 57Cold: 4Drought: 18Lightning: 1Other: 2

51950s71960s101970s461980s1401990s1262000s2302010s1882020s

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

Trend: 470 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 220 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

Wind254

Hail199

Heat79

Flood78

Drought50

Tornado45

Winter30

Cold6

Lightning4

Wildfire3

Tropical2

Other2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	254	1	0.6%	detail
■ Hail	199	—	0.4%	detail
■ Heat	79	1	1.2%
■ Flood	78	—	0.5%	detail
■ Drought	50	—	0.3%
■ Tornado	45	3	0.4%	detail
■ Winter	30	—	0.4%	detail
■ Cold	6	—	0.3%
■ Lightning	4	—	0.4%
■ Wildfire	3	—	0.2%
■ Tropical	2	—	0.3%
■ Other	2	—	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
15 Nov 1987	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25M	—	2	75	County
13 Apr 2019	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$10M	—	1	20	County
4 Jul 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
16 Jan 2012	Strong Wind	Wind	40 mph	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
3 Jun 1990	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	4	County
13 Sep 2012	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	4	County
3 Jun 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F3	—	—	—	3	County
3 Jun 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	—	—	—	3	County
17 Aug 2011	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$75K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
11 Feb 1965	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
26 Apr 1991	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	1	County
23 Nov 1983	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
26 Apr 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	—	—	—	1	County
16 Feb 2021	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$800K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
13 Sep 2008	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$750K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Apr 2016	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$700K	—	—	—	County
13 Apr 2019	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$600K	—	—	—	County
20 Oct 1993	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$500K	—	—	—	County
24 Jul 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	$300K	—	—	—	County
9 Apr 2015	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$300K	—	—	—	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	Public assistance
17 May 2024	DR-4781	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	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
25 Apr 2016	DR-4269	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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	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
14 Mar 2008	EM-3284	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
29 Jun 2007	DR-1709	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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	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
8 Jan 2001	DR-1356	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Ice Storm	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	—
23 Feb 1996	EM-3117	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
2 May 1990	DR-863	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 May 1989	DR-828	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Apr 1989	DR-823	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
20 Nov 1987	DR-802	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	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 Cherokee County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197866

Paid claims43

Total paid$625K

Average paid claim$15K

Repetitive-loss properties60 severe

Residential policies in force1070.5% of 20,052 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	3	2	$9,408	$4,704
2024	3	1	$13,409	$13,409
2020	3	0	$0	—
2019	4	3	$53,865	$17,955
2018	1	0	$0	—
2017	1	0	$0	—
2016	19	10	$214,706	$21,471
2015	1	1	$2,694	$2,694
2012	1	1	$11,466	$11,466
2010	1	0	$0	—
2009	1	0	$0	—
2008	1	1	$9,788	$9,788
2007	9	8	$233,583	$29,198
2004	2	2	$7,452	$3,726
2003	1	1	$1,765	$1,765
2002	2	1	$836	$836
2000	1	0	$0	—
1999	4	4	$19,088	$4,772
1993	2	2	$6,907	$3,453
1991	2	2	$7,849	$3,925
1983	1	1	$8,046	$8,046
1981	1	1	$9,100	$9,100
1979	2	2	$14,713	$7,357

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 61.6 of 100

Expected annual loss$17MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$6,776,394
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,496,236
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$1,917,983
Strong wind	Relatively High	$1,743,739
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,381,098
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$1,120,516
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$487,931
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$390,395
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$366,343
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$251,607
Hail	Relatively Low	$133,592
Earthquake	Very Low	$104,281
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$92,369
Landslide	Relatively Low	$2,770

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 miles24

Tracks within 50 miles6

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	83 mi	58 mph
Barry	2019	96 mi	40 mph
Cindy	2017	81 mi	40 mph
Ike	2008	13 mi	58 mph
Rita	2005	64 mi	52 mph
Chantal	1989	91 mi	40 mph
Bonnie	1986	71 mi	40 mph
Alicia	1983	94 mi	40 mph
Debra	1959	86 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	27 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	59 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1942	85 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	28 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1940	39 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1921	86 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1918	41 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	56 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1891	50 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1888	68 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1882	66 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1879	85 mi	81 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1871	56 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1871	38 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1865	99 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

75766 48
75757 16

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 Cherokee County, TX?

NCEI records 199 hail events in Cherokee County since 1950, in 47 different years; that is about 2.6 recorded events a year. 48 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Cherokee County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 45 tornadoes in Cherokee County since 1950, 20 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 3.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Cherokee County?

9 Jul 2024: Hurricane Beryl, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 28 declarations since 1953.

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

66 NFIP claims since 1978, 43 of them paid, for $625K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Cherokee 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, "Relatively High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Cherokee County compare with the rest of Texas?

71.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 1.3 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.