Natural hazards · Harker Heights

Harker Heights, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harker Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 46 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Harker Heights?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harker Heights to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding37%Tornadoes29%Cold waves12%Hail9%Heat waves6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Harker Heights 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

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Harker Heights flood?

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

46paid claims since 1979

$671Kpaid to owners

9homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bell County.

Disasters that hit Harker Heights

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Harker HeightsDeclared for Bell County only

2024

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

311 households applied for aid $576K aid approved $148K to the City of Harker Heights for repairs

2021

Severe Winter Storms

396 households applied for aid $79K aid approved $45K to the City of Harker Heights for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

18 households applied for aid $42K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Rita

$38K to the City of Harker Heights for repairs

2005

Hurricane Katrina Evacuation

$4K to the City of Harker Heights for repairs

Bell County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Harker Heights

Harker Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Nolanvillemostly inland floodingLow

Killeenmostly inland floodingLow

Harker Heightsmostly inland floodingLow

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. Harker Heights covers 6 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Harker Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Harker Heights. 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 Harker Heights total about $8.5M 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.