Hale County, Texas: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Hale County, Texas has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 78.4 out of 100, higher than about 78% of US counties, with hail, drought and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $31 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Hale County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4586-TX (Severe Winter Storms, declared 19 February 2021). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 137 tornadoes touching Hale County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Texas All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 32,413 Buildings worth $8.4 billion Area 1,015 sq mi Risk rank in Texas 58 of 254 FIPS 48189
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | Very High | 99.4 | $16 million | about 5.8 a year | 218 |
| Drought | Relatively High | 92.9 | $1.6 million | about 85 a year | 2,744 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 92.1 | $367,469 | about 7.7 a year | 146 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 85.5 | $4.3 million | about once every 1.2 years | 68 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 84.7 | $1.2 million | about 2.6 a year | 98 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 77.7 | $254,593 | about once every 345 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 77.3 | $506,869 | about 48 a year | 126,431 strikes |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 73.1 | $1.9 million | about 1.5 a year | 29 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 67.2 | $149,050 | about once every 1.7 years | 40 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 43.4 | $4.3 million | about once a year | 29 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 42.3 | $136,557 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 39.8 | $22,573 | about once every 109 years | 0 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 32.4 | $121,182 | about 1.4 a year | 22 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 2.4 | $2 | about once every 11 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 13
Most common: Fire 3, Hurricane 3, Severe Storm 3, Severe Ice Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1970s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1980s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Fire |
| 2000s | 5 | Hurricane ×3, Fire ×2 |
| 2020s | 2 | Severe Ice Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Hale County
- Severe Winter Storms (2021, DR-4586-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2021, EM-3554-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
- Extreme Wildfire Threat (2006, DR-1624-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Charley (1998).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Texas also had 101 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 137
| Tornadoes touching the county | 137 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×2 |
| Peak month | May (47) |
| Deadliest | 17 Apr 1970, F4, 96.6 mi path, 5 killed, 51 injured |
| Longest path | 17 Apr 1970, F4, 96.6 mi path, 5 killed, 51 injured |
| Most recent | 3 May 2024, unrated |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 11 / 156 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 71 | 42 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 26 | 35 | 21 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Hale County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hale County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 78.4 | Hail |
| Floyd County | 48 km | Very Low | 30.7 | Hail |
| Lamb County | 48 km | Relatively Low | 61.2 | Hail |
| Lubbock County | 51 km | Relatively High | 96.2 | Drought |
| Swisher County | 52 km | Very Low | 37.4 | Hail |
| Castro County | 65 km | Very Low | 34.4 | Hail |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Texas, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 67.7 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 21.0 |
| Community risk factor | 1.32 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $31 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Hale County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Texas · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hail: Weather alerts for Texas
- Drought: Drought monitor for Texas
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Hale County
What natural disasters is Hale County, Texas most at risk from?
Hale County, Texas has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 78.4 out of 100, higher than about 78% of US counties, with hail, drought and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $31 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hale County had?
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Hale County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4586-TX (Severe Winter Storms, declared 19 February 2021). Another 101 Texas declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Hale County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 137 tornadoes touching Hale County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 17 Apr 1970, F4, 96.6 mi path, 5 killed, 51 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.