States › Texas › Lavaca County

Lavaca 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 48285 · 20,544 residents (2021) · 970 sq mi · dominant hazard Flood

Hail · 85Tornado · 36Flood · 116Wind · 63Winter · 11

Lavaca 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.

Lavaca County, Texas, has 382 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them floods and flash floods.

That is 39.4 events per 100 square miles, below the Texas figure of 63.3, and 185.9 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

13 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 4 deaths and 369 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $13M and crop damage at $2.1M.

FEMA has designated the county in 19 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 115 claims since 1978, of which 94 were paid, totalling $1.5M (about $16K per paid claim). FEMA counts 142 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" ($34M a year across 18 hazards).

55 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 6 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

13events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

382events since 19504 deaths, 369 injuries recorded

19disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

115NFIP flood claims$1.5M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Lavaca County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	382	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	39.4	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	185.9	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	13	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	4	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$13M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	5.6	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$16K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	2.8	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: 3Wind: 1

Hail: 3Tornado: 5Wind: 2

Hail: 6Tornado: 9Wind: 2

Hail: 9Wind: 9

Hail: 30Tornado: 8Flood: 30Wind: 19Winter: 1Drought: 5Lightning: 1Other: 2

Hail: 20Tornado: 7Flood: 75Wind: 19Winter: 1Tropical: 1Drought: 3Other: 1

Hail: 11Tornado: 3Flood: 2Wind: 7Winter: 4Tropical: 2Drought: 20

Hail: 5Tornado: 1Flood: 9Wind: 4Winter: 5Heat: 2Cold: 2Drought: 29Lightning: 3

51950s101960s171970s181980s961990s1272000s492010s602020s

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

Trend: 136 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 192 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

Flood116

Hail85

Wind63

Drought57

Tornado36

Winter11

Lightning4

Tropical3

Other3

Heat2

Cold2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Flood	116	1	0.7%	detail
■ Hail	85	—	0.2%	detail
■ Wind	63	—	0.1%	detail
■ Drought	57	—	0.3%
■ Tornado	36	—	0.4%	detail
■ Winter	11	—	0.1%	detail
■ Lightning	4	1	0.4%
■ Tropical	3	—	0.5%
■ Other	3	—	0.2%
■ Heat	2	—	0.0%
■ Cold	2	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
18 Oct 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$3.0M	$500K	—	300	County
15 Feb 2021	Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
10 Apr 1997	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	$50K	1	—	County
31 Jul 1997	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
17 Oct 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	$100K	—	50	County
17 Oct 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$200K	$100K	—	5	Forecast zone
20 Sep 1967	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	—	4	County
31 Mar 2007	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$75K	—	—	4	County
20 Sep 1967	Tornado	Tornado	—	$25K	—	—	3	County
20 Sep 1967	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25K	—	—	3	County
13 May 1994	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$500K	$500K	—	—	County
20 Jun 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	$500K	$500	—	—	County
15 Jul 2003	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$100K	$300K	—	—	Forecast zone
4 May 1991	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
3 Sep 2022	Lightning	Lightning	—	$250K	—	—	—	County
15 Jun 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$200K	—	—	—	County
31 Aug 2001	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$50K	$100K	—	—	County
8 Aug 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$150K	—	—	—	County
10 Feb 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$100K	$10K	—	—	County
10 Apr 2004	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$100K	—	—	—	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
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	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
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 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
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
10 Sep 1993	EM-3113	Emergency	Drought	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
21 Sep 1981	DR-646	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & 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 Lavaca County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978115

Paid claims94

Total paid$1.5M

Average paid claim$16K

Repetitive-loss properties41 severe

Residential policies in force1421.5% of 9,488 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2021	1	0	$0	—
2017	3	0	$0	—
2012	1	0	$0	—
2009	6	6	$257,767	$42,961
2008	1	1	$1,000	$1,000
2007	1	1	$4,567	$4,567
2005	1	1	$945	$945
2004	2	2	$10,975	$5,488
2002	1	1	$14,013	$14,013
2001	2	2	$275,981	$137,990
2000	2	2	$5,644	$2,822
1998	8	7	$65,139	$9,306
1997	8	5	$21,314	$4,263
1996	1	1	$1,398	$1,398
1994	11	11	$16,840	$1,531
1993	2	1	$4,111	$4,111
1992	1	1	$7,000	$7,000
1991	3	3	$3,933	$1,311
1987	18	12	$3,474	$290
1982	8	4	$2,886	$722
1981	33	33	$799,907	$24,240
1980	1	0	$0	—

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 78.9 of 100

Expected annual loss$34MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$22,940,854
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$5,007,337
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$2,994,777
Tornado	Relatively Low	$1,200,250
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$501,479
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$388,349
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$356,150
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$208,573
Hail	Relatively Low	$145,950
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$22,846
Ice storm	Very Low	$21,330
Wildfire	Very Low	$18,282
Earthquake	Very Low	$14,939
Landslide	Very Low	$26

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 miles55

Tracks within 50 miles18

Hurricane strength within 50 miles6

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	56 mi	92 mph
Nicholas	2021	84 mi	75 mph
Beta	2020	41 mi	52 mph
Imelda	2019	96 mi	46 mph
Harvey	2017	31 mi	132 mph
Bill	2015	20 mi	58 mph
Claudette	2003	54 mi	92 mph
Fay	2002	72 mi	58 mph
Allison	2001	98 mi	52 mph
Frances	1998	61 mi	52 mph
Dean	1995	99 mi	46 mph
Allison	1989	76 mi	52 mph
Alicia	1983	88 mi	92 mph
Danielle	1980	38 mi	40 mph
Elena	1979	91 mi	40 mph
Delia	1973	47 mi	58 mph
Fern	1971	79 mi	69 mph
Felice	1970	93 mi	46 mph
Candy	1968	59 mi	69 mph
Abby	1964	35 mi	69 mph
Carla	1961	19 mi	144 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	82 mi	109 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	70 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	56 mi	115 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	79 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

77964 102

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 Lavaca County, TX?

NCEI records 85 hail events in Lavaca County since 1950, in 39 different years; that is about 1.1 recorded events a year. 20 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Lavaca County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 36 tornadoes in Lavaca County since 1950, 7 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Lavaca County?

9 Jul 2024: Hurricane Beryl, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 19 declarations since 1953.

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

115 NFIP claims since 1978, 94 of them paid, for $1.5M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Lavaca 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 High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Lavaca County compare with the rest of Texas?

39.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 5.6 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.