Natural hazards · Amherst

Amherst, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Amherst comes from hail, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Amherst?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Amherst to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail.

Hail38%Drought14%Cold waves12%Inland flooding9%Wildfire9%Strong wind9%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Amherst faces

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

Hail

38% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 78 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

9% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 6% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Amherst flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lamb County.

Disasters that hit Amherst

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AmherstDeclared for Lamb County only

2015

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

$36K to the City of Amherst for repairs

Lamb County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe 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. Amherst 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 Amherst’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Amherst. 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.

Amherst, TX natural hazards

How exposed is Amherst?

What Amherst faces

Hail

Drought

Cold waves

Inland flooding

Wildfire

Strong wind

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Amherst flood?

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby