States › Texas › Limestone County

Limestone 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 48293 · 22,119 residents (2021) · 905 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 133Tornado · 31Flood · 101Wind · 151Winter · 24

Limestone 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 585 events for Limestone County, Texas, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 64.6 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Texas figure of 63.3, and 264.5 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

17 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 3 deaths and 39 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $34M and crop damage at $1.7M.

FEMA has designated the county in 21 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding (major disaster, 17 May 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 291 claims since 1978, of which 256 were paid, totalling $4.8M (about $19K per paid claim). FEMA counts 60 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 "Very Low" ($13M a year across 18 hazards).

19 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

17events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

585events since 19503 deaths, 39 injuries recorded

21disaster declarationslast 17 May 2024

291NFIP flood claims$4.8M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Limestone County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	585	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	64.6	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	264.5	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	17	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	3	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$34M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	13.2	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$19K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	40.0	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: 1Wind: 4

Tornado: 2Wind: 4

Hail: 4Tornado: 3Wind: 1

Hail: 15Tornado: 2Wind: 10

Hail: 30Tornado: 6Flood: 14Wind: 32Winter: 3Heat: 2Drought: 2Other: 5

Hail: 20Tornado: 4Flood: 28Wind: 34Winter: 10Tropical: 1Heat: 3Drought: 22Other: 2

Hail: 32Tornado: 5Flood: 37Wind: 25Winter: 5Heat: 7Cold: 1Drought: 35Wildfire: 2Other: 1

Hail: 31Tornado: 8Flood: 22Wind: 41Winter: 6Heat: 37Cold: 6Drought: 18Wildfire: 1

61950s61960s81970s271980s941990s1242000s1502010s1702020s

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

Trend: 371 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 171 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

Wind151

Hail133

Flood101

Drought77

Heat49

Tornado31

Winter24

Other8

Cold7

Wildfire3

Tropical1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	151	—	0.3%	detail
■ Hail	133	—	0.2%	detail
■ Flood	101	—	0.6%	detail
■ Drought	77	—	0.4%
■ Heat	49	—	0.7%
■ Tornado	31	1	0.3%	detail
■ Winter	24	—	0.3%	detail
■ Other	8	1	0.4%
■ Cold	7	1	0.3%
■ Wildfire	3	—	0.2%
■ 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
29 Dec 2006	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$1.0M	—	1	20	County
26 Apr 2011	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$25K	—	1	1	County
15 Feb 2021	Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	$149K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
27 Apr 1990	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25M	—	—	8	County
3 Feb 2011	Winter Weather	Winter	—	$30K	—	—	4	Forecast zone
19 Apr 1986	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	2	County
26 May 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$50K	—	—	2	County
27 Dec 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$2K	—	—	2	County
27 Apr 1990	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
1 Oct 2006	Drought	Drought	—	$500K	$500K	—	—	Forecast zone
28 Apr 2009	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
1 Nov 2006	Drought	Drought	—	—	$800K	—	—	Forecast zone
16 Jan 2017	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$300K	—	—	—	County
3 Jun 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
30 Mar 2002	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
21 Mar 2022	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$200K	—	—	—	County
7 Nov 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$170K	—	—	—	County
26 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$150K	—	—	—	County
9 Mar 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$140K	—	—	—	County
3 Mar 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$125K	—	—	—	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
17 May 2024	DR-4781	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
21 Apr 2023	DR-4705	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	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
19 Mar 2016	DR-4266	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Sep 2011	DR-4029	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	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
1 Sep 1999	EM-3142	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazards	Public assistance
26 Aug 1998	DR-1239	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Charley	—
10 Sep 1993	EM-3113	Emergency	Drought	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
26 Dec 1991	DR-930	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Thunderstorms	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 May 1990	DR-863	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
19 May 1989	DR-828	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 Mar 1973	DR-365	Major disaster	Severe Storm	High Winds, Tornadoes And 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 Limestone County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978291

Paid claims256

Total paid$4.8M

Average paid claim$19K

Repetitive-loss properties4012 severe

Residential policies in force600.7% of 8,903 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	1	0	$0	—
2024	2	2	$27,037	$13,519
2021	2	2	$63,843	$31,921
2020	7	7	$81,124	$11,589
2019	1	1	$9,657	$9,657
2018	1	1	$143,828	$143,828
2017	10	8	$128,350	$16,044
2016	31	30	$835,409	$27,847
2015	32	22	$242,697	$11,032
2012	23	20	$534,111	$26,706
2010	1	1	$16,061	$16,061
2009	33	32	$1,332,965	$41,655
2007	4	4	$78,192	$19,548
2006	1	1	$11,080	$11,080
2004	1	1	$3,038	$3,038
2003	2	1	$6,785	$6,785
2001	23	22	$473,548	$21,525
1998	2	1	$433	$433
1997	5	3	$6,556	$2,185
1995	1	1	$5,887	$5,887
1994	1	1	$1,385	$1,385
1991	35	33	$368,213	$11,158
1990	3	3	$4,574	$1,525
1989	32	26	$163,138	$6,275
1986	28	27	$255,626	$9,468

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 59.3 of 100

Expected annual loss$13MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively High	$5,025,002
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$4,126,777
Tornado	Relatively Low	$1,257,364
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$764,093
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$489,331
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$328,447
Hail	Relatively Low	$288,994
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$265,792
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$248,219
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$139,820
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$87,742
Earthquake	Very Low	$46,718
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$19,702
Landslide	Very Low	$92

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 miles19

Tracks within 50 miles7

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	83 mi	58 mph
Ike	2008	77 mi	58 mph
Chantal	1989	59 mi	40 mph
Alicia	1983	7 mi	46 mph
Carla	1961	60 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	38 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	46 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1942	79 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	100 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	78 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1921	53 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	21 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	36 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1900	42 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1897	59 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1888	79 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1871	42 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1871	90 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1854	93 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

76667 279
76642 11

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 Limestone County, TX?

NCEI records 133 hail events in Limestone County since 1950, in 42 different years; that is about 1.7 recorded events a year. 39 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Limestone County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 31 tornadoes in Limestone County since 1950, 8 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 1.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Limestone County?

17 May 2024: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 21 declarations since 1953.

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

291 NFIP claims since 1978, 256 of them paid, for $4.8M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Limestone 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, "Very Low" 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 Limestone County compare with the rest of Texas?

64.6 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 13.2 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.