Natural hazards · Ponder

Ponder, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ponder comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ponder?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ponder to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes35%Inland flooding33%Hail13%Wildfire7%Heat waves5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Ponder faces

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

Tornadoes

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Wildfire

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Ponder flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Denton County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Ponder

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PonderDeclared for Denton County only

2024

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

6 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

2021

Severe Winter Storms

60 households applied for aid $31K aid approved

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

5 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

9 households applied for aid $28K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

4 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Denton County has had 19 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. Ponder 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 Ponder’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Ponder. 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.