States › Texas › Hidalgo County

Hidalgo 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 48215 · 880,356 residents (2021) · 1,571 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 163Tornado · 43Flood · 116Wind · 227Winter · 5

Hidalgo 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.

Hidalgo County, Texas, has 784 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 49.9 events per 100 square miles, below the Texas figure of 63.3, and 8.9 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

4 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 6 deaths and 38 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $720M and crop damage at $191M.

FEMA has designated the county in 32 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms And Flooding (major disaster, 21 May 2025).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 4,405 claims since 1978, of which 3,483 were paid, totalling $118M (about $34K per paid claim). FEMA counts 9,038 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($310M a year across 18 hazards).

47 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 9 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

4events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

784events since 19506 deaths, 38 injuries recorded

32disaster declarationslast 21 May 2025

4,405NFIP flood claims$118M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Hidalgo County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	784	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	49.9	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	8.9	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	4	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	6	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$720M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	5.0	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$34K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	27.3	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: 1

Hail: 6Tornado: 5Wind: 6

Hail: 8Tornado: 2Wind: 4

Hail: 15Tornado: 15Wind: 16

Hail: 15Tornado: 5Flood: 2Wind: 22Tropical: 1Cold: 2Drought: 1Lightning: 3Other: 1

Hail: 33Tornado: 11Flood: 33Wind: 48Winter: 1Tropical: 1Heat: 4Cold: 4Drought: 59Wildfire: 7Lightning: 2Other: 8

Hail: 36Tornado: 1Flood: 35Wind: 67Winter: 4Cold: 22Drought: 75Wildfire: 7Lightning: 5Other: 24

Hail: 49Tornado: 3Flood: 46Wind: 64Lightning: 1Other: 3

21950s171960s141970s461980s521990s2112000s2762010s1662020s

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

Trend: 552 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 170 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

Wind227

Hail163

Drought135

Flood116

Tornado43

Other36

Cold28

Wildfire14

Lightning11

Winter5

Heat4

Tropical2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	227	—	0.5%	detail
■ Hail	163	—	0.3%	detail
■ Drought	135	—	0.7%
■ Flood	116	4	0.7%	detail
■ Tornado	43	—	0.4%	detail
■ Other	36	—	1.9%
■ Cold	28	1	1.2%
■ Wildfire	14	—	0.9%
■ Lightning	11	1	1.1%
■ Winter	5	—	0.1%
■ Heat	4	—	0.1%
■ Tropical	2	—	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
27 Mar 2025	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	3	—	County
25 Jun 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	2	County
1 Aug 2010	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
7 Dec 2017	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
29 Mar 2012	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$200M	$1.0M	—	—	County
23 Jul 2008	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$189M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
30 Apr 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$1.5M	—	—	11	County
24 Jul 2008	Flood	Flood	—	$29K	$100M	—	—	County
15 Mar 1983	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	—	9	County
26 Jul 2020	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$32M	$27M	—	—	County
27 Mar 2025	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$52M	—	—	—	County
24 Oct 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$50M	—	—	—	County
24 Jun 2019	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$30M	$1.0M	—	—	County
20 Jun 2018	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$25M	—	—	—	County
19 Jun 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$23M	—	—	—	County
21 Jun 2018	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$21M	—	—	—	County
23 May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	64 mph	$110K	—	—	2	County
11 Apr 2011	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$50K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
18 Mar 2008	High Wind	Wind	40 mph	$10K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
12 Jul 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$6.5M	$13M	—	—	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
21 May 2025	DR-4871	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
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
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
17 Jul 2019	DR-4454	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
6 Jul 2018	DR-4377	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
11 Jun 2016	DR-4272	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, Public assistance
29 May 2015	DR-4223	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Aug 2010	DR-1931	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Alex	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 Jun 2010	EM-3313	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Alex	Public assistance
10 Sep 2008	EM-3294	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ike	Public assistance
29 Aug 2008	EM-3290	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
24 Jul 2008	DR-1780	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dolly	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Mar 2008	EM-3284	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	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	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
22 Aug 1999	DR-1287	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Bret	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Aug 1998	DR-1239	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Charley	—
9 Jan 1990	DR-850	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freeze	Individual assistance
5 Oct 1988	DR-816	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Gilbert	Individual assistance
7 Jan 1984	DR-696	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freezing Weather	Individual assistance
11 Aug 1980	DR-627	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Allen	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Sep 1971	DR-313	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, High Winds & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Sep 1967	DR-232	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Beulah	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 Hidalgo County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19784,405

Paid claims3,483

Total paid$118M

Average paid claim$34K

Repetitive-loss properties52938 severe

Residential policies in force9,0383.7% of 241,790 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	25	18	$303,772	$16,876
2025	441	408	$24,292,231	$59,540
2024	7	5	$204,461	$40,892
2023	13	2	$34,869	$17,435
2022	17	8	$121,298	$15,162
2021	134	106	$2,511,175	$23,690
2020	843	660	$22,932,529	$34,746
2019	252	209	$6,833,986	$32,698
2018	728	651	$40,025,062	$61,482
2017	4	1	$1,123	$1,123
2016	32	23	$401,512	$17,457
2015	205	159	$5,059,161	$31,819
2014	34	17	$148,026	$8,707
2013	9	2	$26,808	$13,404
2012	184	139	$3,593,101	$25,850
2011	7	2	$36,201	$18,100
2010	130	103	$2,302,561	$22,355
2009	9	6	$66,833	$11,139
2008	352	215	$3,603,445	$16,760
2007	27	21	$285,239	$13,583
2006	43	37	$765,508	$20,689
2005	12	4	$63,341	$15,835
2004	18	14	$73,317	$5,237
2003	46	37	$476,648	$12,882
2002	23	17	$260,488	$15,323

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 Highscore 99.0 of 100

Expected annual loss$310MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Very High	$126,725,498
Cold wave	Very High	$87,844,565
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$55,346,642
Heat wave	Relatively High	$13,484,534
Hail	Very High	$9,647,070
Tornado	Relatively High	$7,712,133
Drought	Relatively High	$3,654,256
Ice storm	Very High	$1,812,802
Strong wind	Relatively High	$1,080,291
Lightning	Relatively High	$832,817
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$827,553
Winter weather	Relatively High	$431,558
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$350,167
Landslide	Very Low	$685

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 miles47

Tracks within 50 miles19

Hurricane strength within 50 miles9

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Harold	2023	63 mi	58 mph
Nicholas	2021	98 mi	58 mph
Hanna	2020	21 mi	92 mph
Don	2011	89 mi	40 mph
Hermine	2010	33 mi	69 mph
Dolly	2008	22 mi	98 mph
Erika	2003	90 mi	75 mph
Bret	1999	45 mi	138 mph
Arlene	1993	68 mi	40 mph
Barry	1983	65 mi	81 mph
Allen	1980	22 mi	127 mph
Amelia	1978	48 mi	52 mph
Fern	1971	50 mi	52 mph
Candy	1968	98 mi	58 mph
Beulah	1967	25 mi	127 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1960	59 mi	58 mph
Alma	1958	55 mi	52 mph
Ella	1958	97 mi	58 mph
Gerda	1958	66 mi	40 mph
Alice	1954	53 mi	81 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	28 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	95 mi	115 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	82 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1936	35 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1933	63 mi	92 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

78596 596
78570 523
78501 435
78599 412
78539 404
78572 395
78577 252
78504 161
78574 153
78541 152
78542 128
78503 123
78537 112
78516 93
78589 88
78573 81
78538 67
78543 39
78557 31
78579 24
78558 22
78540 18
78562 18
78595 18
78505 12
78576 11
78560 8

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 Hidalgo County, TX?

NCEI records 163 hail events in Hidalgo County since 1950, in 44 different years; that is about 2.1 recorded events a year. 62 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Hidalgo County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 43 tornadoes in Hidalgo County since 1950, 5 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Hidalgo County?

21 May 2025: Severe Storms And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 32 declarations since 1953.

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

4,405 NFIP claims since 1978, 3,483 of them paid, for $118M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Hidalgo County compare with the rest of Texas?

49.9 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 5.0 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.