States › Texas › Harrison County

Harrison 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 48203 · 69,150 residents (2021) · 900 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 324Tornado · 87Flood · 93Wind · 403Winter · 30

Harrison 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 1,103 events for Harrison County, Texas, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 122.5 events per 100 square miles, above the Texas figure of 63.3, and 159.5 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

34 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 3 deaths and 17 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $78M.

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 260 claims since 1978, of which 218 were paid, totalling $5.7M (about $26K per paid claim). FEMA counts 169 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" ($29M a year across 18 hazards).

16 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.

34events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,103events since 19503 deaths, 17 injuries recorded

28disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

260NFIP flood claims$5.7M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Harrison County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,103	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	122.5	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	159.5	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	34	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	3	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$78M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	3.8	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$26K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	14.2	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: 4Tornado: 7Wind: 7

Hail: 7Tornado: 9Wind: 3

Hail: 21Tornado: 6Wind: 19

Hail: 68Tornado: 7Wind: 34

Hail: 115Tornado: 13Flood: 12Wind: 129Winter: 3Heat: 1Drought: 3Lightning: 4Fog: 1

Hail: 42Tornado: 13Flood: 26Wind: 74Winter: 4Tropical: 1Drought: 2Lightning: 4Other: 1

Hail: 41Tornado: 21Flood: 31Wind: 82Winter: 15Heat: 26Cold: 2Drought: 29Wildfire: 4Other: 4

Hail: 26Tornado: 11Flood: 24Wind: 55Winter: 8Tropical: 1Heat: 61Cold: 4Drought: 17Other: 1

181950s191960s461970s1091980s2811990s1672000s2552010s2082020s

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

Trend: 519 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 432 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

Wind403

Hail324

Flood93

Heat88

Tornado87

Drought51

Winter30

Lightning8

Cold6

Other6

Wildfire4

Tropical2

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	403	—	0.9%	detail
■ Hail	324	—	0.6%	detail
■ Flood	93	—	0.6%	detail
■ Heat	88	2	1.3%
■ Tornado	87	—	0.9%	detail
■ Drought	51	—	0.3%
■ Winter	30	—	0.4%	detail
■ Lightning	8	—	0.8%
■ Cold	6	1	0.3%
■ Other	6	—	0.3%
■ Wildfire	4	—	0.3%
■ Tropical	2	—	0.3%
■ Fog	1	—	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
5 Jul 1996	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
14 Feb 2021	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
17 Jun 2023	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
11 Apr 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	72 mph	$50M	—	—	1	County
5 Nov 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	$50K	—	—	2	County
5 Nov 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	$50K	—	—	2	County
22 Oct 1972	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25K	—	—	2	County
11 Dec 1965	Tornado	Tornado	F2	—	—	—	2	County
18 Feb 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
18 Feb 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
16 May 2013	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$100K	—	—	1	County
24 Nov 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F2	—	—	—	1	County
11 Oct 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	—	—	—	1	County
20 Jun 2002	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
23 Apr 2000	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$8.0M	—	—	—	County
3 May 2000	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$8.0M	—	—	—	County
20 Jan 2010	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$1.5M	—	—	—	County
9 Apr 2009	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
23 Dec 2009	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
21 Jan 2017	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.0M	—	—	—	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
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	Public assistance
19 Mar 2016	DR-4266	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Feb 2016	DR-4255	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	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
1 Jul 2011	DR-1999	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
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
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
19 May 1989	DR-828	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
23 Apr 1989	DR-823	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 May 1966	DR-218	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 Harrison County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978260

Paid claims218

Total paid$5.7M

Average paid claim$26K

Repetitive-loss properties393 severe

Residential policies in force1690.5% of 32,296 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	3	2	$117,563	$58,782
2024	3	3	$29,182	$9,727
2021	2	2	$15,693	$7,846
2019	16	15	$416,689	$27,779
2016	92	77	$2,981,024	$38,715
2015	14	11	$352,490	$32,045
2013	1	1	$30,919	$30,919
2010	1	0	$0	—
2009	30	28	$714,339	$25,512
2008	2	1	$1,491	$1,491
2007	3	3	$51,968	$17,323
2006	1	0	$0	—
2003	1	1	$38,077	$38,077
2002	2	1	$28,273	$28,273
2001	25	18	$201,085	$11,171
1997	10	10	$198,366	$19,837
1994	1	0	$0	—
1993	3	3	$52,447	$17,482
1991	27	22	$229,458	$10,430
1990	1	0	$0	—
1989	13	12	$152,873	$12,739
1987	4	3	$48,323	$16,108
1983	2	2	$3,766	$1,883
1981	1	1	$3,008	$3,008
1980	1	1	$1,700	$1,700

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 77.7 of 100

Expected annual loss$29MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$7,659,000
Tornado	Relatively High	$7,502,549
Cold wave	Relatively High	$4,992,754
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,802,865
Ice storm	Very High	$2,078,354
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$1,271,138
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$702,052
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$433,620
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$338,062
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$334,842
Earthquake	Very Low	$280,927
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$235,728
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$105,740
Landslide	Very Low	$635

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 miles16

Tracks within 50 miles6

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Laura	2020	88 mi	63 mph
Barry	2019	48 mi	40 mph
Cindy	2017	74 mi	40 mph
Ike	2008	72 mi	58 mph
Rita	2005	24 mi	52 mph
Audrey	1957	99 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	70 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	49 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	79 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1940	52 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1918	27 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1891	34 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1886	54 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1879	38 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1871	96 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1865	65 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

75661 177
75670 28
75672 19
75692 7

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 Harrison County, TX?

NCEI records 324 hail events in Harrison County since 1950, in 59 different years; that is about 4.2 recorded events a year. 91 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Harrison County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 87 tornadoes in Harrison County since 1950, 27 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Harrison 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 Harrison County, and how much was paid?

260 NFIP claims since 1978, 218 of them paid, for $5.7M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Harrison 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 Harrison County compare with the rest of Texas?

122.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 3.8 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.