Natural hazards · Staples

Staples, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Staples comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2015. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Staples?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Staples to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding64%Tornadoes12%Drought9%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Staples faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Drought

9% of expected damage

Recorded about 84 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Staples flood?

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

2paid claims since 2015

$60Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20152026

Biggest named events

Fall severe storms: 1 claim, $25K
Early summer storms: 1 claim, $35K

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. Staples isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Guadalupe County.

Disasters that hit Staples

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into StaplesDeclared for Guadalupe County only

2024

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

14 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2021

Severe Winter Storms

1 household applied for aid

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Guadalupe County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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