Natural hazards · West

West, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in West comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is West?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in West to be higher than in 2% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes38%Inland flooding28%Cold waves15%Heat waves7%Everything else13%

By hazard

What West faces

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

Tornadoes

38% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 38 years in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 West flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McLennan County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit West

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WestDeclared for McLennan County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

30 households applied for aid $25K aid approved

McLennan County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. West 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 West’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of West. 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.