States › Texas › Washington County

Washington 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 48477 · 35,891 residents (2021) · 604 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 57Tornado · 27Flood · 41Wind · 73Winter · 15

Washington 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.

Washington County, Texas, has 263 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 43.5 events per 100 square miles, below the Texas figure of 63.3, and 73.3 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

4 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 9 deaths and 15 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $176M and crop damage at $7.3M.

FEMA has designated the county in 20 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 71 claims since 1978, of which 59 were paid, totalling $1.7M (about $28K per paid claim). FEMA counts 180 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" ($21M a year across 18 hazards).

44 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 2 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

4events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

263events since 19509 deaths, 15 injuries recorded

20disaster declarationslast 9 Jul 2024

71NFIP flood claims$1.7M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Washington County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	263	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	43.5	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	73.3	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	4	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	9	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$176M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.0	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$28K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	3.3	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: 2

Tornado: 3Wind: 1

Tornado: 3

Hail: 4Tornado: 4Wind: 1

Hail: 19Tornado: 8Flood: 14Wind: 10Winter: 2Tropical: 1Heat: 2Drought: 7

Hail: 15Tornado: 5Flood: 10Wind: 24Winter: 4Tropical: 1Heat: 4Drought: 2Lightning: 1Other: 6

Hail: 14Tornado: 2Flood: 12Wind: 24Winter: 5Tropical: 2Lightning: 2Other: 8

Hail: 4Flood: 5Wind: 13Winter: 4Heat: 7Cold: 1Drought: 4Wildfire: 1Other: 1

31950s41960s31970s91980s631990s722000s692010s402020s

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

Trend: 129 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 112 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

Wind73

Hail57

Flood41

Tornado27

Winter15

Other15

Heat13

Drought13

Tropical4

Lightning3

Cold1

Wildfire1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	73	—	0.2%	detail
■ Hail	57	—	0.1%	detail
■ Flood	41	5	0.3%	detail
■ Tornado	27	4	0.3%	detail
■ Winter	15	—	0.2%	detail
■ Other	15	—	0.8%
■ Heat	13	—	0.2%
■ Drought	13	—	0.1%
■ Tropical	4	—	0.7%
■ Lightning	3	—	0.3%
■ Cold	1	—	0.0%
■ Wildfire	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
26 May 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$10M	$10K	5	—	County
2 Dec 1953	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250	—	2	5	County
20 May 1983	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$2.5M	—	1	4	County
10 Dec 1983	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	1	—	County
25 Aug 2017	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$150M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
5 Jun 1950	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	6	County
1 Aug 1998	Drought	Drought	—	$1.0M	$7.3M	—	—	Forecast zone
15 Feb 2021	Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	$5.6M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
30 Mar 1976	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
16 May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	75 mph	$700K	—	—	—	County
13 May 1994	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$500K	—	—	—	County
13 Dec 2000	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$300K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Dec 1983	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$250K	—	—	—	County
7 Aug 2022	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$200K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
7 Sep 1998	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone

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	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	Public assistance
11 Jun 2016	DR-4272	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Apr 2016	DR-4269	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
29 May 2015	DR-4223	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds And Flooding	Public assistance
13 Sep 2008	DR-1791	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ike	Individual assistance, 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 Sep 1999	EM-3142	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazards	Public 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

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 Washington County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197871

Paid claims59

Total paid$1.7M

Average paid claim$28K

Repetitive-loss properties60 severe

Residential policies in force1801.4% of 13,039 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2021	1	0	$0	—
2019	1	1	$5,700	$5,700
2017	4	3	$9,616	$3,205
2016	37	33	$1,445,357	$43,799
2015	3	3	$94,576	$31,525
2014	2	1	$12,524	$12,524
2013	1	1	$17,606	$17,606
2012	1	1	$12,705	$12,705
2009	1	1	$9,366	$9,366
2005	1	1	$3,077	$3,077
2004	1	1	$1,931	$1,931
2003	1	1	$1,342	$1,342
2002	4	3	$13,946	$4,649
1998	1	0	$0	—
1994	1	0	$0	—
1989	1	0	$0	—
1986	1	1	$3,868	$3,868
1983	2	2	$10,433	$5,216
1980	2	2	$238	$119
1979	4	3	$14,023	$4,674
1978	1	1	$11,906	$11,906

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 72.0 of 100

Expected annual loss$21MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$10,194,554
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$3,133,451
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,096,159
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$2,458,043
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$607,480
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$593,459
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$422,587
Hail	Relatively Low	$378,598
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$231,474
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$91,647
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$59,147
Earthquake	Very Low	$37,556
Wildfire	Very Low	$30,974
Landslide	Very Low	$116

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 miles44

Tracks within 50 miles15

Hurricane strength within 50 miles2

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Beryl	2024	59 mi	81 mph
Nicholas	2021	88 mi	58 mph
Harvey	2017	92 mi	52 mph
Bill	2015	82 mi	46 mph
Edouard	2008	97 mi	46 mph
Ike	2008	72 mi	98 mph
Grace	2003	92 mi	40 mph
Allison	2001	92 mi	52 mph
Dean	1995	97 mi	46 mph
Allison	1989	55 mi	52 mph
Chantal	1989	44 mi	58 mph
Jerry	1989	91 mi	40 mph
Alicia	1983	31 mi	92 mph
Danielle	1980	64 mi	40 mph
Delia	1973	29 mi	58 mph
Felice	1970	59 mi	46 mph
Candy	1968	73 mi	46 mph
Abby	1964	100 mi	58 mph
Cindy	1963	91 mi	40 mph
Carla	1961	68 mi	81 mph
Debra	1959	80 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	73 mi	109 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	29 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	21 mi	86 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	20 mi	86 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

77833 63
77426 5

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 Washington County, TX?

NCEI records 57 hail events in Washington County since 1950, in 22 different years; that is about 0.7 recorded events a year. 17 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Washington County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 27 tornadoes in Washington County since 1950, 6 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 4.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Washington County?

9 Jul 2024: Hurricane Beryl, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 20 declarations since 1953.

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

71 NFIP claims since 1978, 59 of them paid, for $1.7M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Washington 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, "Very High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Washington County compare with the rest of Texas?

43.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 2.0 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.