Natural hazards · New Braunfels

New Braunfels, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in New Braunfels comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 587 claims here since 1978. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is New Braunfels?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in New Braunfels to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding83%Tornadoes8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What New Braunfels faces

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

Inland flooding

83% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 New Braunfels flood?

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

587paid claims since 1978

$38.5Mpaid to owners

140homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Torrential rain: 138 claims, $10.4M
Fall severe storms: 33 claims, $1.4M
Tropical Storm Bill: 2 claims, $13K

Homes that flooded again and again

Each house = 3 homes. ■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (38) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 10% off flood insurance. New Braunfels is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 8) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Comal County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

47flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit New Braunfels

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into New BraunfelsDeclared for Comal County only

2023

Severe Winter Storm

$10K to the City of New Braunfels for repairs

2021

Severe Winter Storms

558 households applied for aid $162K aid approved $246K to the City of New Braunfels for repairs

2017

Hurricane Harvey

4 households applied for aid $287K to the City of New Braunfels for repairs

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

65 households applied for aid $131K aid approved $15K to the City of New Braunfels for repairs

2002

Severe Storms and Flooding

$271K to the City of New Braunfels for repairs

1998

Tx-Flooding 10/18/98

$1.9M to the City of New Braunfels for repairs

Comal County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around New Braunfels

New Braunfels and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lake Dunlapmostly inland floodingHigh

Schertzmostly inland floodingModerate

New Braunfelsmostly inland floodingModerate

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. New Braunfels covers 14 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to New Braunfels’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of New Braunfels. 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 New Braunfels total about $53.8M 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.