Natural hazards · Kilgore

Kilgore, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kilgore comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 48 claims here since 1987. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Kilgore?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kilgore to be higher than in 16% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes36%Inland flooding25%Ice storms8%Cold waves8%Hail7%Heat waves6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Kilgore faces

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

Tornadoes

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Ice storms

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Kilgore flood?

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

48paid claims since 1987

$1.0Mpaid to owners

10homes flooded more than once

19872026

Biggest named events

Late winter severe storms: 9 claims, $817K
Early summer storms: 1 claim, $5K

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

Insurance rates: Gregg County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Kilgore

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into KilgoreDeclared for Gregg County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

227 households applied for aid $139K aid approved $29K to the City of Kilgore for repairs

2016

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

46 households applied for aid $164K aid approved $322K to the City of Kilgore for repairs

2011

Wildfires

3 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Ike

43 households applied for aid $49K aid approved

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$72K to the City of Kilgore for repairs

Gregg County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and fires.

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. Kilgore covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Kilgore’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Kilgore. 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 Kilgore total about $2.5M 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.