Natural hazards · Merkel

Merkel, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Merkel comes from hail, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Merkel?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Merkel to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail49%Inland flooding26%Tornadoes7%Heat waves5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Merkel faces

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

Hail

49% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 7% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 95 years in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Merkel flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Merkel.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Taylor County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

7storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Merkel

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MerkelDeclared for Taylor County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

39 households applied for aid $33K aid approved

2007

Tropical Storm Erin

64 households applied for aid $136K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Rita

1 household applied for aid

Taylor County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

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. Merkel covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Merkel’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Merkel. 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 Merkel total about $994K 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.