States › Texas › Harris County

Harris 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 48201 · 4,728,030 residents (2021) · 1,707 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 607Tornado · 254Flood · 235Wind · 720Winter · 16

Harris 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.

Harris County, Texas, has 2,064 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 120.9 events per 100 square miles, above the Texas figure of 63.3, and 4.4 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

34 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 276 deaths and 2,837 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $21B and crop damage at $7.6M.

FEMA has designated the county in 41 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 170,854 claims since 1978, of which 140,105 were paid, totalling $8.8B (about $63K per paid claim). FEMA counts 206,279 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very High" and its expected annual loss as "Very High" ($2.2B a year across 18 hazards).

62 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 10 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

34events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

2,064events since 1950276 deaths, 2,837 injuries recorded

41disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

170,854NFIP flood claims$8.8B paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Harris County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	2,064	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	120.9	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	4.4	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	34	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	276	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$21B	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	36.1	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$63K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	28.1	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: 2Tornado: 6Wind: 5

Hail: 7Tornado: 19Wind: 22

Hail: 20Tornado: 56Wind: 43

Hail: 39Tornado: 50Wind: 56

Hail: 136Tornado: 44Flood: 30Wind: 183Winter: 1Tropical: 2Heat: 23Cold: 1Drought: 7Lightning: 8Other: 1

Hail: 208Tornado: 38Flood: 66Wind: 160Winter: 3Tropical: 6Heat: 38Drought: 2Lightning: 21Other: 47

Hail: 88Tornado: 27Flood: 93Wind: 120Winter: 12Tropical: 3Heat: 3Cold: 5Lightning: 30Other: 17

Hail: 107Tornado: 14Flood: 46Wind: 131Lightning: 13Other: 5

131950s481960s1191970s1451980s4361990s5892000s3982010s3162020s

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

Trend: 901 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 853 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

Wind720

Hail607

Tornado254

Flood235

Lightning72

Other70

Heat64

Winter16

Tropical11

Drought9

Cold6

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	720	16	1.7%	detail
■ Hail	607	—	1.1%	detail
■ Tornado	254	13	2.5%	detail
■ Flood	235	71	1.5%	detail
■ Lightning	72	12	7.2%
■ Other	70	1	3.8%
■ Heat	64	126	1.0%
■ Winter	16	—	0.2%	detail
■ Tropical	11	31	1.9%
■ Drought	9	—	0.0%
■ Cold	6	6	0.3%

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
26 Aug 2017	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$10B	$100K	38	—	County
12 Sep 2008	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$2.0B	—	9	2400	Forecast zone
21 Sep 2005	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	34	—	Forecast zone
5 Jun 2001	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$5.0B	—	22	—	Forecast zone
6 Jul 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	17	—	Forecast zone
16 May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	—	—	8	—	County
25 May 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$25M	—	7	—	County
17 Apr 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$35M	—	6	—	County
1 Aug 1999	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	6	—	Forecast zone
18 Apr 2009	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$3.5M	—	5	—	County
1 Sep 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	5	—	Forecast zone
16 Aug 2007	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$750K	—	3	—	County
26 Jun 1999	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	3	—	Forecast zone
29 Aug 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	3	—	Forecast zone
12 Sep 2008	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$3.0B	—	—	—	Forecast zone
5 Feb 1986	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25M	—	2	—	County
15 Jul 2012	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	2	1	County
31 Oct 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	2	—	County
16 Oct 2006	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$12K	—	2	—	County
7 Aug 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone

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
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
24 Aug 2020	EM-3540	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storms Marco And Laura	Public assistance
26 Jul 2020	EM-3530	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Hanna	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
11 Jun 2016	DR-4272	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
25 Apr 2016	DR-4269	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Nov 2015	DR-4245	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance
29 May 2015	DR-4223	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Jun 2011	FM-2924	Fire management assistance	Fire	Forest Brook Fire	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
2 Oct 2007	DR-1730	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Erin	Individual 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
5 Nov 2002	DR-1439	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding	Individual 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
21 Oct 1998	DR-1257	Major disaster	Flood	Tx-Flooding 10/18/98	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Sep 1998	DR-1245	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Hurricane Georges - Texas	Individual assistance, 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, Public assistance
4 Dec 1992	DR-970	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Thunderstorms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance
20 Mar 1992	DR-937	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance
18 Jul 1989	DR-836	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Allison	Individual assistance
19 May 1989	DR-828	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
30 Oct 1984	DR-727	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance
19 Aug 1983	DR-689	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Alicia	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Sep 1979	DR-603	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Apr 1979	DR-580	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
19 Jun 1976	DR-510	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Jul 1973	DR-398	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 Harris County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978170,854

Paid claims140,105

Total paid$8.8B

Average paid claim$63K

Repetitive-loss properties16,6123,720 severe

Residential policies in force206,27916.6% of 1,245,880 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	81	40	$1,600,639	$40,016
2025	63	33	$866,648	$26,262
2024	1,745	1,053	$54,064,321	$51,343
2023	187	90	$2,738,336	$30,426
2022	187	89	$2,583,027	$29,023
2021	573	130	$3,700,352	$28,464
2020	348	192	$6,502,438	$33,867
2019	4,773	4,183	$223,133,842	$53,343
2018	259	115	$3,117,087	$27,105
2017	49,788	42,810	$5,382,685,629	$125,734
2016	8,157	7,059	$445,969,927	$63,177
2015	7,002	5,993	$396,891,473	$66,226
2014	340	220	$3,179,536	$14,452
2013	451	328	$6,377,090	$19,442
2012	944	717	$17,787,607	$24,808
2011	62	12	$87,159	$7,263
2010	358	192	$2,388,321	$12,439
2009	4,824	4,312	$140,634,236	$32,615
2008	13,716	8,920	$424,785,039	$47,622
2007	1,425	1,202	$31,205,217	$25,961
2006	2,466	2,188	$56,356,471	$25,757
2005	386	173	$2,811,199	$16,250
2004	330	218	$2,215,391	$10,162
2003	1,650	1,359	$33,689,160	$24,790
2002	3,198	2,690	$75,809,572	$28,182

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 riskVery Highscore 99.9 of 100

Expected annual loss$2.2BVery High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very High	$1,122,079,278
Hurricane	Very High	$457,859,275
Tornado	Very High	$407,387,921
Cold wave	Very High	$118,128,454
Heat wave	Very High	$80,363,788
Lightning	Very High	$8,587,007
Strong wind	Very High	$7,718,811
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$5,909,099
Ice storm	Very High	$4,126,929
Coastal flooding	Relatively High	$2,501,580
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$1,595,707
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$562,161
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$549,870
Winter weather	Relatively High	$295,947
Landslide	Relatively Moderate	$36,555

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 miles62

Tracks within 50 miles30

Hurricane strength within 50 miles10

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	53 mi	92 mph
Nicholas	2021	35 mi	75 mph
Imelda	2019	59 mi	46 mph
Edouard	2008	37 mi	63 mph
Ike	2008	33 mi	109 mph
Humberto	2007	65 mi	92 mph
Rita	2005	89 mi	75 mph
Grace	2003	34 mi	40 mph
Allison	2001	39 mi	58 mph
Dean	1995	46 mi	46 mph
Allison	1989	21 mi	52 mph
Chantal	1989	26 mi	81 mph
Jerry	1989	48 mi	86 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1987	59 mi	46 mph
Bonnie	1986	66 mi	86 mph
Alicia	1983	13 mi	115 mph
Chris	1982	96 mi	63 mph
Danielle	1980	43 mi	46 mph
Claudette	1979	72 mi	52 mph
Elena	1979	97 mi	40 mph
Delia	1973	55 mi	63 mph
Fern	1971	94 mi	75 mph
Felice	1970	7 mi	69 mph
Abby	1964	74 mi	69 mph
Cindy	1963	34 mi	63 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

77089 6,742
77096 6,482
77571 4,801
77586 4,792
77088 4,663
77037 4,198
77040 4,160
77034 3,525
77079 3,384
77401 3,303
77339 3,219
77024 3,146
77025 3,059
77084 3,058
77093 2,977
77074 2,828
77429 2,751
77039 2,643
77521 2,098
77015 2,074
77058 2,068
77505 2,057
77520 1,937
77090 1,865
77536 1,855
77060 1,842
77070 1,834
77503 1,799
77035 1,785
77045 1,782
77077 1,761
77008 1,679
77080 1,543
77338 1,511
77075 1,494
77072 1,446
77032 1,438
77018 1,400
77379 1,393
77016 1,370
77038 1,369
77042 1,358
77022 1,325
77502 1,315
77013 1,277
77587 1,234
77066 1,191
77062 1,163
77028 1,157
77532 1,155
77373 1,122
77087 1,099
77049 1,094
77044 1,087
77026 1,079
77099 1,079
77562 1,035
77082 1,034
77076 1,025
77063 986

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 Harris County, TX?

NCEI records 607 hail events in Harris County since 1950, in 60 different years; that is about 7.9 recorded events a year. 123 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Harris County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 254 tornadoes in Harris County since 1950, 45 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 13.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Harris County?

9 Jul 2024: Hurricane Beryl, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 41 declarations since 1953.

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

170,854 NFIP claims since 1978, 140,105 of them paid, for $8.8B in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Harris County compare with the rest of Texas?

120.9 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 36.1 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.