Natural hazards · Houston

Houston, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Houston comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2007. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Houston?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Houston to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding73%Cold waves12%Tornadoes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Houston faces

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

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Houston flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Houston, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 2007

$8Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20072026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Houston County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Houston

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Houston itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Houston.

Brought FEMA money into HoustonDeclared for Houston County only

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

346 households applied for aid $814K aid approved

Houston County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Houston

Houston and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Houstonmostly inland floodingVery high

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. Houston 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 Houston’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Houston. 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.