Natural hazards · Oak Leaf

Oak Leaf, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oak Leaf comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 2004. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oak Leaf?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oak Leaf to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding67%Cold waves10%Tornadoes9%Hail5%Heat waves5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Oak Leaf faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Hail

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Oak Leaf flood?

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

10paid claims since 2004

$2.2Mpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20042026

Biggest named events

Dallas Flash Floods: 2 claims, $420K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ellis County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Oak Leaf

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Oak LeafDeclared for Ellis County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

4 households applied for aid

Ellis County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.

Around Oak Leaf

Oak Leaf and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Oak Leafmostly inland floodingHigh

Glenn Heightsmostly heat wavesModerate

Ovillamostly inland floodingLow

Red Oakmostly inland floodingLow

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