Natural hazards · Elgin

Elgin, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elgin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2012. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elgin?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elgin to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding49%Tornadoes24%Cold waves8%Heat waves5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Elgin faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Elgin flood?

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

5paid claims since 2012

$32Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20122026

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. Elgin isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Bastrop County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Elgin

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElginDeclared for Bastrop County only

2023

Severe Winter Storm

$146K to the City of Elgin for repairs

2021

Severe Winter Storms

343 households applied for aid $210K aid approved

2017

Hurricane Harvey

81 households applied for aid $57K aid approved

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

7 households applied for aid

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

82 households applied for aid $292K aid approved $111K to the City of Elgin for repairs

2011

Wildfires

2 households applied for aid

Bastrop County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Elgin covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Elgin’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Elgin. 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 Elgin total about $3.1M 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.