Natural hazards · El Paso

El Paso, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in El Paso comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is El Paso?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in El Paso to be higher than in 87% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding50%Earthquakes16%Tornadoes15%Everything else20%

By hazard

What El Paso faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does El Paso flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in El Paso.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. El Paso isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: White County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

11storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit El Paso

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in El Paso itself: aid to households, or repair grants to El Paso.

Brought FEMA money into El PasoDeclared for White County only

2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2014

Severe Storms,tornadoes, and Flooding

12 households applied for aid $23K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

2 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $64K aid approved

White County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. El Paso is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to El Paso’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to El Paso. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.