Natural hazards · Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oak Ridge comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2017. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oak Ridge?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oak Ridge to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding29%Tornadoes28%Wildfire11%Drought9%Hail8%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Oak Ridge faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

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

Drought

9% of expected damage

Recorded about 36 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Oak Ridge flood?

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

1paid claims since 2017

$350Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20172026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Harvey: 1 claim, $350K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cooke County.

Disasters that hit Oak Ridge

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Oak RidgeDeclared for Cooke County only

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$5K to the Town of Oak Ridge for repairs

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

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