Natural hazards · Mertens

Mertens, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mertens comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mertens?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mertens to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and tornadoes.

Cold waves36%Tornadoes23%Inland flooding18%Drought8%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Mertens faces

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

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 37 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Mertens flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hill County.

Disasters that hit Mertens

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MertensDeclared for Hill County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

4 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Hill County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Mertens 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 Mertens’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Mertens. 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.