Natural hazards · Zephyr

Zephyr, TX natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Zephyr comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Zephyr?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Zephyr to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding47%Tornadoes12%Cold waves11%Drought7%Hail6%Wildfire6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Zephyr faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 42 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Zephyr flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Brown County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Zephyr

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ZephyrDeclared for Brown County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

7 households applied for aid

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Brown County has had 21 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. Zephyr 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 Zephyr’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Zephyr. 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.