Natural hazards · Buffalo

Buffalo, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buffalo?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buffalo to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves50%Inland flooding24%Tornadoes13%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Buffalo faces

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

Cold waves

50% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 24 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Buffalo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Leon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Buffalo

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BuffaloDeclared for Leon County only

2024

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

95 households applied for aid $250K aid approved $84K to the City of Buffalo for repairs

2023

Severe Winter Storm

$41K to the City of Buffalo for repairs

2021

Severe Winter Storms

75 households applied for aid $82K aid approved $21K to the City of Buffalo for repairs

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

$80K to the City of Buffalo for repairs

2011

Wildfires

1 household applied for aid

Leon County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

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