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Natural hazards · Big Sandy

Big Sandy, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Sandy comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low 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 Big Sandy?

31
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Sandy to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes33%Inland flooding32%Ice storms9%Heat waves6%Strong wind6%Cold waves6%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Big Sandy faces

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

Tornadoes

33% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 25 years in the area

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Ice storms

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places
Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Big Sandy flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Big Sandy isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Upshur County.
Disasters that hit Big Sandy

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Big Sandy itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Big Sandy.

Brought FEMA money into Big SandyDeclared for Upshur County only
2021

Severe Winter Storms

70 households applied for aid $65K aid approved
2011

Wildfires

14 households applied for aid $193K aid approved
2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $2K aid approved
2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$3K to the Town of Big Sandy for repairs
Upshur County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and fires.
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. Big Sandy 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 Big Sandy’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Big Sandy. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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