States › Texas › Newton County

Newton 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 48351 · 12,241 residents (2021) · 934 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 54Tornado · 33Flood · 33Wind · 139Winter · 5

Newton 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.

The NCEI record lists 278 events for Newton County, Texas, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 29.8 events per 100 square miles, below the Texas figure of 63.3, and 227.1 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

6 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 3 deaths and 3 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $228M and crop damage at $1.1M.

FEMA has designated the county in 30 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 552 claims since 1978, of which 490 were paid, totalling $28M (about $57K per paid claim). FEMA counts 268 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($5.5M a year across 18 hazards).

52 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 7 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

6events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

278events since 19503 deaths, 3 injuries recorded

30disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

552NFIP flood claims$28M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Newton County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	278	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	29.8	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	227.1	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	6	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	3	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$228M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	45.1	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$57K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	112.3	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

Tornado: 1

Tornado: 2Wind: 2

Tornado: 1Wind: 1

Hail: 4Wind: 9

Hail: 13Tornado: 7Flood: 4Wind: 35Drought: 4

Hail: 21Tornado: 8Flood: 6Wind: 51Winter: 2Tropical: 3Heat: 2Drought: 1

Hail: 9Tornado: 10Flood: 14Wind: 17Winter: 3Cold: 1Wildfire: 2Other: 1

Hail: 7Tornado: 4Flood: 9Wind: 24

11950s41960s21970s131980s631990s942000s572010s442020s

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

Trend: 134 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 123 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

Wind139

Hail54

Tornado33

Flood33

Winter5

Drought5

Tropical3

Heat2

Wildfire2

Cold1

Other1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	139	—	0.3%	detail
■ Hail	54	—	0.1%	detail
■ Tornado	33	—	0.3%	detail
■ Flood	33	2	0.2%	detail
■ Winter	5	—	0.1%
■ Drought	5	—	0.0%
■ Tropical	3	—	0.5%
■ Heat	2	—	0.0%
■ Wildfire	2	—	0.1%
■ Cold	1	1	0.0%
■ Other	1	—	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
29 Aug 2017	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$45M	—	2	—	County
8 Jan 2010	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	$50K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
10 Mar 2016	Flood	Flood	—	$86M	—	—	—	County
23 Sep 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$80M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
2 Mar 1999	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	3	County
12 Sep 2008	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$5.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
9 Mar 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.3M	—	—	—	County
1 Nov 2009	Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	County
23 Nov 2004	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	$1.0M	—	—	County
1 Feb 1999	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
17 Nov 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
16 Oct 2006	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
18 Sep 2019	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
27 Oct 2021	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$850K	—	—	—	County
4 Mar 2001	Flood	Flood	—	$250K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
23 Nov 2004	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
28 May 2011	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$100K	$100K	—	—	Forecast zone
2 Apr 2012	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$200K	—	—	—	County
30 Mar 2022	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$150K	—	—	—	County
23 Nov 2004	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$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
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
9 Dec 2020	DR-4572	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Laura	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 Aug 2017	DR-4332	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Harvey	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Mar 2016	DR-4266	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Nov 2015	DR-4245	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe 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	Public assistance
9 Sep 2011	DR-4029	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	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
29 Aug 2008	EM-3290	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	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	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
9 Jun 2001	DR-1379	Major disaster	Coastal Storm	Tx-Tropical Storm Allison-06-06-2001	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Sep 2000	FM-2328	Fire management assistance	Fire	Tx - Moore Branch Fire - 09/03/00	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
18 Jul 1989	DR-836	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Allison	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 May 1989	DR-828	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & 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 Newton County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978552

Paid claims490

Total paid$28M

Average paid claim$57K

Repetitive-loss properties6815 severe

Residential policies in force2684.5% of 5,990 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	2	1	$49,467	$49,467
2024	25	23	$1,427,880	$62,082
2021	2	1	$46,025	$46,025
2020	3	0	$0	—
2019	6	3	$17,822	$5,941
2018	3	3	$27,494	$9,165
2017	260	242	$15,805,381	$65,311
2016	107	101	$8,936,448	$88,480
2015	1	1	$15,580	$15,580
2014	1	0	$0	—
2009	7	5	$103,854	$20,771
2008	1	0	$0	—
2006	17	15	$488,723	$32,582
2005	2	0	$0	—
2003	1	1	$9,527	$9,527
2002	3	2	$35,318	$17,659
2001	16	12	$121,263	$10,105
1999	21	18	$299,249	$16,625
1998	3	3	$69,368	$23,123
1997	1	1	$15,704	$15,704
1994	1	1	$1,426	$1,426
1992	1	0	$0	—
1991	17	14	$103,261	$7,376
1990	1	1	$7,105	$7,105
1989	28	24	$296,849	$12,369

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 Lowscore 27.2 of 100

Expected annual loss$5.5MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$2,092,113
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$1,646,325
Tornado	Relatively Low	$657,268
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$276,935
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$206,958
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$159,558
Cold wave	Very Low	$133,853
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$106,201
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$97,216
Hail	Very Low	$52,859
Earthquake	Very Low	$31,976
Drought	Very Low	$16,299
Winter weather	Very Low	$13,438
Coastal flooding	Very Low	$7,835
Landslide	Very Low	$128

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 miles52

Tracks within 50 miles20

Hurricane strength within 50 miles7

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Laura	2020	39 mi	150 mph
Delta	2020	69 mi	98 mph
Barry	2019	35 mi	58 mph
Cindy	2017	20 mi	52 mph
Harvey	2017	40 mi	46 mph
Edouard	2008	83 mi	63 mph
Gustav	2008	57 mi	69 mph
Ike	2008	93 mi	98 mph
Humberto	2007	35 mi	92 mph
Rita	2005	29 mi	115 mph
Lili	2002	82 mi	69 mph
Chantal	1989	91 mi	81 mph
Jerry	1989	74 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1987	49 mi	46 mph
Bonnie	1986	58 mi	86 mph
Danny	1985	81 mi	81 mph
Juan	1985	98 mi	69 mph
Chris	1982	20 mi	63 mph
Danielle	1980	98 mi	58 mph
Claudette	1979	35 mi	52 mph
Debra	1978	82 mi	58 mph
Carmen	1974	71 mi	52 mph
Edith	1971	97 mi	98 mph
Felice	1970	100 mi	69 mph
Cindy	1963	79 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

77614 113
75928 53
75966 47
75932 39
75933 35

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 Newton County, TX?

NCEI records 54 hail events in Newton County since 1950, in 25 different years; that is about 0.7 recorded events a year. 12 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Newton County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 33 tornadoes in Newton County since 1950, 8 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Newton County?

9 Jul 2024: Hurricane Beryl, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 30 declarations since 1953.

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

552 NFIP claims since 1978, 490 of them paid, for $28M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very 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 Newton County compare with the rest of Texas?

29.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 45.1 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.