Natural hazards · Vernon

Vernon, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Vernon comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1995. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Vernon?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Vernon to be higher than in 35% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes27%Inland flooding24%Strong wind15%Heat waves14%Hail8%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Vernon faces

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

Tornadoes

27% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

15% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingLandslidesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Vernon flood?

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

5paid claims since 1995

$108Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19952026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wilbarger County.

Disasters that hit Vernon

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VernonDeclared for Wilbarger County only

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$37K to the City of Vernon for repairs

Wilbarger County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

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. Vernon covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Vernon’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Vernon. 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 Vernon total about $1.9M 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.