Natural hazards · Palmer

Palmer, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Palmer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very 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 Palmer?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Palmer to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding46%Cold waves16%Tornadoes14%Hail9%Heat waves8%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Palmer faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Heat waves

8% 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 Palmer flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Palmer 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

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Palmer

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PalmerDeclared for Ellis County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

13 households applied for aid $39K aid approved

2021

Severe Winter Storms

65 households applied for aid $67K aid approved

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Rita

1 household applied for aid

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

Around Palmer

Palmer and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Palmermostly inland floodingVery low

Ennismostly inland floodingVery low

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