Natural hazards · Sweetwater

Sweetwater, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sweetwater comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1999. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sweetwater?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sweetwater to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding29%Tornadoes24%Strong wind16%Hail13%Cold waves10%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Sweetwater 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 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Strong wind

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Sweetwater flood?

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

4paid claims since 1999

$18Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 05% off flood insurance. Sweetwater is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Nolan County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Sweetwater

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SweetwaterDeclared for Nolan County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

1 household applied for aid

Nolan County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Sweetwater covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sweetwater’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sweetwater. 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 Sweetwater total about $3.3M 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.