Natural hazards · Marfa

Marfa, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Marfa comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Marfa?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Marfa to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding56%Wildfire20%Lightning5%Heat waves5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Marfa faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

20% of expected damage

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

Lightning

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Marfa flood?

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

1paid claims since 1979

$7Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Claudette: 1 claim, $7K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Presidio County.

Disasters that hit Marfa

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Presidio County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Marfa itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into MarfaDeclared for Presidio County only

Presidio County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and hurricanes.

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