States › Texas › Williamson County

Williamson 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 48491 · 643,026 residents (2021) · 1,116 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 458Tornado · 71Flood · 171Wind · 213Winter · 45

Williamson 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.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 1,069 storm events in Williamson County, Texas, led by hail.

That is 95.8 events per 100 square miles, above the Texas figure of 63.3, and 16.6 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

45 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 40 deaths and 84 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $488M and crop damage at $700K.

FEMA has designated the county in 26 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding (major disaster, 6 Jul 2025).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 741 claims since 1978, of which 572 were paid, totalling $22M (about $39K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1,949 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($137M 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.

45events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,069events since 195040 deaths, 84 injuries recorded

26disaster declarationslast 6 Jul 2025

741NFIP flood claims$22M paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Williamson County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,069	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	95.8	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	16.6	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	45	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	40	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$488M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.2	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$39K	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	3.5	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: 2Tornado: 6Wind: 6

Hail: 5Tornado: 9Wind: 3

Hail: 18Tornado: 9Wind: 8

Hail: 34Tornado: 12Wind: 34

Hail: 51Tornado: 8Flood: 18Wind: 37Winter: 2Drought: 5Lightning: 1Other: 2

Hail: 99Tornado: 10Flood: 65Wind: 41Winter: 6Heat: 1Drought: 4Lightning: 2Other: 4

Hail: 65Tornado: 13Flood: 63Wind: 51Winter: 21Heat: 1Drought: 29Wildfire: 2Lightning: 6Other: 2

Hail: 184Tornado: 4Flood: 25Wind: 33Winter: 16Heat: 4Cold: 7Drought: 37Wildfire: 3Other: 1

141950s171960s351970s801980s1241990s2322000s2532010s3142020s

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

Trend: 656 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 246 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

Hail458

Wind213

Flood171

Drought75

Tornado71

Winter45

Lightning9

Other9

Cold7

Heat6

Wildfire5

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	458	—	0.8%	detail
■ Wind	213	—	0.5%	detail
■ Flood	171	5	1.1%	detail
■ Drought	75	—	0.4%
■ Tornado	71	29	0.7%	detail
■ Winter	45	1	0.6%	detail
■ Lightning	9	1	0.9%
■ Other	9	1	0.5%
■ Cold	7	2	0.3%
■ Heat	6	1	0.1%
■ Wildfire	5	—	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 May 1997	Tornado	Tornado	F5	$40M	$100K	27	12	County
15 Nov 2001	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$500K	—	2	10	County
14 Feb 2021	Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
17 May 1989	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	1	28	County
7 Apr 1980	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	1	2	County
25 May 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$7.0M	—	1	—	County
19 Jul 1998	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
25 Jul 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
13 Mar 2007	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
27 Jan 2009	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
8 Sep 2010	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
17 May 2015	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	—	1	—	County
24 Sep 2023	Hail	Hail	4.00 in	$300M	—	—	—	County
27 May 1997	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$70M	$50K	—	15	County
30 Apr 1954	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	6	County
16 May 1981	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	4	County
5 Jul 2025	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$25M	—	—	—	County
1 Feb 2023	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$23M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Dec 1985	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	2	County
20 Feb 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	115 mph	—	—	—	2	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
6 Jul 2025	DR-4879	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
29 May 2015	DR-4223	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Sep 2011	DR-4029	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance
6 Sep 2011	FM-2963	Fire management assistance	Fire	Moonglow Fire	Public assistance
15 Aug 2011	FM-2949	Fire management assistance	Fire	Horseshoe Fire	Public assistance
16 Jun 2011	FM-2922	Fire management assistance	Fire	Grand Mesa Fire	Public assistance
10 Sep 2008	EM-3294	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ike	Public assistance
7 Aug 2008	FM-2785	Fire management assistance	Fire	Florence Fire	Public assistance
14 Mar 2008	EM-3284	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
29 Jun 2007	DR-1709	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
19 May 1989	DR-828	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
30 Nov 1974	DR-454	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 Williamson County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978741

Paid claims572

Total paid$22M

Average paid claim$39K

Repetitive-loss properties7513 severe

Residential policies in force1,9491.1% of 177,153 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	5	4	$352,009	$88,002
2025	43	27	$3,039,640	$112,579
2023	4	2	$107,979	$53,990
2022	1	1	$39,093	$39,093
2021	1	0	$0	—
2020	2	1	$55,361	$55,361
2019	3	1	$1,883	$1,883
2018	8	3	$262,270	$87,423
2017	2	1	$14,077	$14,077
2016	11	7	$165,015	$23,574
2015	67	52	$2,895,858	$55,690
2014	1	1	$35,224	$35,224
2013	18	15	$486,345	$32,423
2012	5	4	$43,186	$10,796
2011	1	0	$0	—
2010	210	178	$10,714,501	$60,194
2009	12	9	$14,714	$1,635
2008	5	1	$6,962	$6,962
2007	32	31	$1,210,225	$39,040
2005	1	0	$0	—
2004	10	9	$146,847	$16,316
2003	1	1	$4,713	$4,713
2002	4	2	$8,129	$4,064
2001	26	14	$271,100	$19,364
2000	3	2	$32,381	$16,191

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 Moderatescore 90.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$137MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$71,028,840
Cold wave	Relatively High	$21,288,000
Tornado	Relatively High	$16,523,504
Hail	Relatively High	$14,143,247
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$5,284,352
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,771,920
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$1,610,622
Winter weather	Very High	$1,489,765
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$1,040,750
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$964,396
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$860,306
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$402,550
Earthquake	Very Low	$196,884
Landslide	Very Low	$278

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 miles6

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Harvey	2017	93 mi	46 mph
Chantal	1989	90 mi	40 mph
Alicia	1983	80 mi	46 mph
Delia	1973	98 mi	40 mph
Candy	1968	45 mi	46 mph
Carla	1961	10 mi	81 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	64 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	51 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	32 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1921	91 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	54 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	46 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1900	48 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1897	39 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1888	84 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1886	95 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1875	87 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1871	95 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1854	85 mi	69 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

78681 158
78664 138
78613 61
76574 60
78626 56
78628 48
78642 38
78729 37
78633 24
78634 17
76527 16
78665 14
76530 9

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 Williamson County, TX?

NCEI records 458 hail events in Williamson County since 1950, in 55 different years; that is about 5.9 recorded events a year. 139 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Williamson County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 71 tornadoes in Williamson County since 1950, 20 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 29.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Williamson County?

6 Jul 2025: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 26 declarations since 1953.

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

741 NFIP claims since 1978, 572 of them paid, for $22M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Williamson County compare with the rest of Texas?

95.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 1.2 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 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.