Natural hazards · Prairie View

Prairie View, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Prairie View comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 36 claims here since 1994. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Prairie View?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Prairie View to be higher than in 15% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes34%Inland flooding29%Cold waves12%Hurricanes9%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Prairie View faces

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

Tornadoes

34% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 51 years in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 13% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hurricanes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Prairie View flood?

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

36paid claims since 1994

$1.5Mpaid to owners

8homes flooded more than once

19942026

Biggest named events

Spring severe storms: 11 claims, $718K
Hurricane Harvey: 6 claims, $468K
Early summer severe storms: 5 claims, $41K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (5) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Waller County.

Disasters that hit Prairie View

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Prairie ViewDeclared for Waller County only

2024

Hurricane Beryl

56 households applied for aid $89K aid approved

2024

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

73 households applied for aid $104K aid approved $20K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

2021

Severe Winter Storms

54 households applied for aid $52K aid approved

2017

Hurricane Harvey

150 households applied for aid $119K aid approved $217K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

84 households applied for aid $446K aid approved $29K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

$18K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

2011

Wildfires

1 household applied for aid

2008

Hurricane Ike

52 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $20K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

2005

Hurricane Rita

$81K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

1998

Tx-Flooding 10/18/98

$46K to the City of Prairie View for repairs

Waller County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes 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. Prairie View covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Prairie View’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Prairie View. 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 Prairie View total about $3.0M 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.