States › Texas › Guadalupe County

Guadalupe 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 48187 · 177,036 residents (2021) · 711 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 112Tornado · 26Flood · 104Wind · 134Winter · 26

Guadalupe 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.

The NCEI record lists 507 events for Guadalupe County, Texas, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 71.3 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Texas figure of 63.3, and 28.6 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

20 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 10 deaths and 846 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $72M and crop damage at $865K.

FEMA has designated the county in 23 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding (major disaster, 6 Jul 2025).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 2,456 claims since 1978, of which 2,123 were paid, totalling $110M (about $52K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2,244 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 Moderate" ($124M a year across 18 hazards).

29 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 3 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

20events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

507events since 195010 deaths, 846 injuries recorded

23disaster declarationslast 6 Jul 2025

2,456NFIP flood claims$110M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Guadalupe County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	507	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	71.3	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	28.6	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	20	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	10	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$72M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	13.9	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$52K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	1.5	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

Hail: 1Tornado: 3

Hail: 4Tornado: 8Wind: 2

Hail: 9Tornado: 3Wind: 9

Hail: 8Wind: 23

Hail: 20Tornado: 2Flood: 9Wind: 21Winter: 2Drought: 5Other: 1

Hail: 23Tornado: 4Flood: 64Wind: 10Winter: 4Drought: 4Lightning: 1

Hail: 15Tornado: 3Flood: 24Wind: 39Winter: 5Tropical: 1Heat: 3Drought: 25Lightning: 1Other: 1

Hail: 32Tornado: 3Flood: 7Wind: 30Winter: 15Heat: 7Cold: 7Drought: 47Wildfire: 2

41950s141960s211970s311980s601990s1102000s1172010s1502020s

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

Trend: 291 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 143 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

Wind134

Hail112

Flood104

Drought81

Tornado26

Winter26

Heat10

Cold7

Wildfire2

Lightning2

Other2

Tropical1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	134	—	0.3%	detail
■ Hail	112	—	0.2%	detail
■ Flood	104	8	0.7%	detail
■ Drought	81	—	0.4%
■ Tornado	26	—	0.3%	detail
■ Winter	26	—	0.3%	detail
■ Heat	10	2	0.2%
■ Cold	7	—	0.3%
■ Wildfire	2	—	0.1%
■ Lightning	2	—	0.2%
■ Other	2	—	0.1%
■ Tropical	1	—	0.2%

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
17 Oct 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$5.0M	$100K	4	500	County
17 Oct 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$5.0M	$80K	—	250	Forecast zone
15 Nov 2001	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$80K	—	1	5	County
11 Mar 2007	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
4 Jun 2010	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
12 Jun 2011	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
25 May 2013	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
10 Mar 2017	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
17 Oct 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$30M	$50K	—	50	Forecast zone
22 Jun 1997	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$300K	$100K	—	20	County
1 Dec 1953	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	10	County
5 Sep 2001	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$80K	—	—	4	County
24 Aug 1988	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	3	County
19 Mar 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$500K	$100K	—	2	County
27 Mar 1994	Hail	Hail	0.75 in	$5.0M	$50K	—	1	County
20 Oct 1956	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$3K	—	—	1	County
9 Jun 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$10M	—	—	—	County
27 Mar 1994	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$5.0M	$50K	—	—	County
27 Mar 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$5.0M	$50K	—	—	County
5 Jul 2025	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.5M	—	—	—	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
6 Jul 2025	DR-4879	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance
17 May 2024	DR-4781	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	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
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	Public assistance
25 Nov 2015	DR-4245	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, 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
29 Jun 2010	EM-3313	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Alex	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
11 Jan 2006	DR-1624	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Wildfire Threat	Individual assistance, 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
4 Jul 2002	DR-1425	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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	—
7 Jul 1997	DR-1179	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Sep 1993	EM-3113	Emergency	Drought	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
20 May 1972	DR-333	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	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 Guadalupe County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19782,456

Paid claims2,123

Total paid$110M

Average paid claim$52K

Repetitive-loss properties37166 severe

Residential policies in force2,2443.6% of 62,019 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	0	$0	—
2025	5	4	$146,623	$36,656
2023	1	1	$2,668	$2,668
2021	14	9	$255,728	$28,414
2020	1	1	$23,271	$23,271
2019	3	0	$0	—
2017	8	3	$112,146	$37,382
2016	7	4	$39,923	$9,981
2015	71	55	$2,737,028	$49,764
2013	12	5	$484,201	$96,840
2012	1	1	$1,418	$1,418
2010	273	227	$7,791,874	$34,325
2009	9	6	$33,060	$5,510
2007	33	30	$685,320	$22,844
2006	1	1	$7,266	$7,266
2004	360	333	$14,652,099	$44,000
2002	637	517	$18,613,187	$36,002
2001	25	16	$597,571	$37,348
2000	1	1	$7,039	$7,039
1999	1	0	$0	—
1998	876	821	$62,641,319	$76,299
1997	9	6	$138,206	$23,034
1996	1	0	$0	—
1995	2	2	$10,809	$5,404
1994	11	8	$58,043	$7,255

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 91.5 of 100

Expected annual loss$124MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$100,451,198
Tornado	Relatively High	$10,223,207
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,355,488
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,637,110
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$2,454,423
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,397,103
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$1,000,688
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$901,421
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$508,516
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$318,057
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$310,132
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$103,903
Earthquake	Very Low	$35,744
Landslide	Very Low	$257

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 miles29

Tracks within 50 miles9

Hurricane strength within 50 miles3

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beta	2020	88 mi	40 mph
Harvey	2017	29 mi	75 mph
Bill	2015	71 mi	46 mph
Hermine	2010	41 mi	46 mph
Claudette	2003	76 mi	81 mph
Frances	1998	84 mi	46 mph
Candy	1968	36 mi	69 mph
Abby	1964	70 mi	40 mph
Carla	1961	45 mi	115 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1960	96 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1942	41 mi	98 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1936	68 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	99 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	81 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	47 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	97 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1912	90 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1909	89 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	44 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1901	99 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1888	90 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1886	40 mi	98 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1886	47 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1875	57 mi	81 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1874	88 mi	46 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

78155 1,471
78123 533
78154 68
78108 61
78124 50
78638 22
77900 10
78156 10
78000 5

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 Guadalupe County, TX?

NCEI records 112 hail events in Guadalupe County since 1950, in 40 different years; that is about 1.5 recorded events a year. 25 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Guadalupe County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 26 tornadoes in Guadalupe County since 1950, 8 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Guadalupe County?

6 Jul 2025: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 23 declarations since 1953.

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

2,456 NFIP claims since 1978, 2,123 of them paid, for $110M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Guadalupe 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 Moderate" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Guadalupe County compare with the rest of Texas?

71.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 13.9 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.