Natural hazards · Tatum

Tatum, TX natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Tatum to be higher than in 24% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding34%Tornadoes20%Strong wind16%Heat waves9%Cold waves8%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Tatum faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 21 years in the area

Strong wind

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Tatum flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rusk County.

Disasters that hit Tatum

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TatumDeclared for Rusk County only

2024

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

15 households applied for aid $62K aid approved

2021

Severe Winter Storms

67 households applied for aid $40K aid approved

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Ike

26 households applied for aid $18K aid approved

Rusk County has had 21 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. Tatum 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 Tatum’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Tatum. 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.