El Indio is calmer than 90% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in El Indio comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about El Indio’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is El Indio?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 10% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 1,747 of the 1,859 Texas towns we cover.
El Indio is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Does El Indio flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in El Indio. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
El Indio isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Maverick County.What El Indio faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Heat waves
Drought
Tornadoes
3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to El Indio
Disasters that paid out in El Indio itself (aid to households or repair grants to El Indio) and its biggest flood years.
- 2021Severe Winter Storms3 households applied for aid$1K aid approved
- 2010Hurricane Alex1 household applied for aid$6K aid approved
- 2007Severe Storms and Tornadoes4 households applied for aid
Maverick County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and fires.
Old photos of El Indio after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the El Indio archive →Get ready for what El Indio actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Know the nearest cooling center or air-conditioned library.
- Drink water before you feel thirsty.
- Check on neighbors who live alone.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in June–August
The month each of Maverick County’s 11 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to El Indio’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to El Indio.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in El Indio.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.