Natural hazards · Big Spring

Big Spring, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Spring comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 23 claims here since 1986. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Spring?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Spring to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding37%Hail26%Tornadoes16%Strong wind6%Cold waves5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Big Spring faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

26% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Big Spring flood?

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

23paid claims since 1986

$418Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19862026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Howard County.

Disasters that hit Big Spring

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big SpringDeclared for Howard County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

303 households applied for aid $273K aid approved $79K to the City of Big Spring for repairs

2005

Hurricane Katrina Evacuation

$181K to the City of Big Spring for repairs

Howard County has had 15 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. Big Spring covers 7 census tracts, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Big Spring total about $7.6M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.