Natural hazards · Yoakum

Yoakum, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Yoakum comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2009. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Yoakum?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Yoakum to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves41%Inland flooding25%Hurricanes15%Tornadoes8%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Yoakum faces

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

Cold waves

41% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Yoakum flood?

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

2paid claims since 2009

$50Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lavaca County.

Disasters that hit Yoakum

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into YoakumDeclared for Lavaca County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

117 households applied for aid $38K aid approved

2017

Hurricane Harvey

296 households applied for aid $90K aid approved $223K to the City of Yoakum for repairs

Lavaca County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes 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. Yoakum covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Yoakum’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Yoakum. 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 Yoakum total about $1.8M 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.