States › Texas › 1971

Texas, 1971

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

483events recorded325 in 1970

2deaths recorded178 injuries

$33Mproperty damage (estimates)

1disaster declarations0 NFIP claims, $0 paid

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.

Events by hazard

Tornado193

Hail165

Wind125

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1971 was 483 against 325 in 1970.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 1971
Dallas County	16
Tarrant County	14
Hill County	13
Hutchinson County	11
McLennan County	10
Potter County	10
Bexar County	9
Johnson County	9
Bell County	8
Grayson County	8
Harris County	8
Lamb County	8
Lubbock County	8
Palo Pinto County	8
Bailey County	7
Coleman County	7
Erath County	7
Fayette County	7
Nueces County	7
Swisher County	7
Eastland County	6
Hartley County	6
Henderson County	6
McCulloch County	6
Runnels County	6

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
23 May 1971	Hill	Tornado	F3	—	1	49
12 Mar 1971	Bowie	Tornado	F4	—	1	5
19 Apr 1971	Deaf Smith	Tornado	F3	—	—	24
20 Jun 1971	Harris	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	20
28 Apr 1971	Ellis	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	20
29 Jul 1971	Harris	Tornado	F2	$25,000	—	8
14 Dec 1971	Tarrant	Tornado	F1	$2,500,000	—	4
17 Oct 1971	Castro	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	4
14 Dec 1971	Dallas	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	4
14 Dec 1971	Dallas	Tornado	F1	$2,500,000	—	4
9 Mar 1971	Harris	Tornado	F2	$25,000	—	4
28 Apr 1971	Eastland	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	3
19 Apr 1971	Dallam	Tornado	F2	—	—	3
14 Dec 1971	Hunt	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	2
19 Oct 1971	Dallas	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	2
14 Dec 1971	Johnson	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	2
14 Dec 1971	Tarrant	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	2
14 Dec 1971	Tarrant	Tornado	F1	$25,000	—	2
14 Dec 1971	McLennan	Tornado	F1	$25,000	—	2
17 Oct 1971	Carson	Tornado	F3	—	—	2
12 Dec 1971	Tarrant	Tornado	F1	—	—	2
12 Dec 1971	Tarrant	Tornado	F1	—	—	2
14 Dec 1971	Dallas	Tornado	F1	$2,500,000	—	1
28 Apr 1971	Ellis	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	1
28 Apr 1971	Johnson	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	1
14 Dec 1971	Grayson	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	1
9 Mar 1971	Chambers	Tornado	F2	$25,000	—	1
6 Jul 1971	Baylor	Tornado	F2	$25,000	—	1
26 Jul 1971	Denton	Tornado	F2	$25,000	—	1
14 Dec 1971	Dallas	Tornado	F1	$25,000	—	1
17 Oct 1971	Lamb	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	—
17 Oct 1971	Lamb	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	—
17 Oct 1971	Lamb	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	—
17 Oct 1971	Lamb	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	—
21 Feb 1971	McLennan	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	—
14 Dec 1971	Johnson	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	—
28 Apr 1971	Erath	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	—
28 Apr 1971	Hood	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	—
14 Dec 1971	Dallas	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	—
17 Nov 1971	Bastrop	Tornado	F2	$250,000	—	—

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 1971

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
18 Sep 1971	DR-313	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, High Winds & Flooding	15

Flood insurance claims with a 1971 date of loss

No NFIP claims in Texas carry a 1971 date of loss. The NFIP claims file begins with 1978 losses.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.