Wharton County, Texas: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wharton County, Texas has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 83.0 out of 100, higher than about 83% of US counties, with hurricanes, cold waves and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $35 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 24 federal disaster declarations that included Wharton County since 1990, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4798-TX (Hurricane Beryl, declared 9 July 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 71 tornadoes touching Wharton County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Texas All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 41,544 Buildings worth $9.1 billion Area 1,105 sq mi Risk rank in Texas 41 of 254 FIPS 48481
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 94.8 | $14 million | about once every 7.4 years | 49 |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 92.5 | $6.1 million | about once every 2.4 years | 8 |
| Drought | Relatively High | 91.4 | $1.3 million | about 41 a year | 1,400 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 78.6 | $986,168 | about 14 a year | 241 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 75.5 | $500,421 | about 1.8 a year | 66 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 72.4 | $1.9 million | about once every 1.5 years | 49 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 69.8 | $9.1 million | about once every 1.1 years | 26 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 69.4 | $343,311 | about 66 a year | 164,354 strikes |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 56.0 | $78,161 | about once every 1.4 years | 50 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 53.0 | $38,451 | about once every 917 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 45.9 | $341,788 | about once a year | 40 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 36.6 | $27,643 | about 1.1 a year | 20 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 26.2 | $35,364 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 11.2 | $24 | about once every 9.8 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | No Rating | 0.0 | — | about once every 83 years | — |
| Avalanche | 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 24
Most common: Hurricane 11, Flood 4, Severe Storm 3, Severe Ice Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7 | Flood ×3, Severe Storm ×2, Fire, Drought |
| 2000s | 9 | Hurricane ×7, Fire, Coastal Storm |
| 2010s | 3 | Hurricane, Flood, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 5 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Ice Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Wharton 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 Beryl (2024), Hurricane Hanna (2020), Hurricane Harvey (2017), Hurricane Ike (2008), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Dean (2007), Hurricane Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Fay (2002), 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 71
| Tornadoes touching the county | 71 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | November (14) |
| Deadliest | 20 Sep 1967, F1, 0.1 mi path, 1 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 8 Nov 1977, F1, 20.5 mi path |
| Most recent | 12 Jun 2025, EF0, 2.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 1 / 19 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 32 | 30 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 6 | 3 |
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 Wharton County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wharton County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 83.0 | Hurricane |
| Colorado County | 48 km | Relatively Low | 62.2 | Drought |
| Jackson County | 50 km | Relatively Low | 71.7 | Hurricane |
| Matagorda County | 51 km | Relatively Low | 80.3 | Hurricane |
| Fort Bend County | 52 km | Relatively High | 97.5 | Lightning |
| Austin County | 68 km | Relatively Low | 53.1 | Drought |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Texas, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 83.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 41.0 |
| Community risk factor | 1.48 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $35 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 Wharton County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Texas · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Drought: Drought monitor for Texas
- 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 Wharton County
What natural disasters is Wharton County, Texas most at risk from?
Wharton County, Texas has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 83.0 out of 100, higher than about 83% of US counties, with hurricanes, cold waves and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $35 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wharton County had?
OpenFEMA lists 24 federal disaster declarations that included Wharton County since 1990, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4798-TX (Hurricane Beryl, declared 9 July 2024). Another 101 Texas declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Wharton County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 71 tornadoes touching Wharton County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 20 Sep 1967, F1, 0.1 mi path, 1 killed, 1 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.