Texas
Harvey dropped 60 inches of rain on Houston. Uri killed over 200 when the grid failed in February. Texas averages 155 tornadoes per year, more than any state. The Hill Country produces the most dangerous flash floods in the country. And the summer heat is lethal.
Enter your Texas ZIP for live alerts, forecasts, and county-specific data.
Know your region
Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur, Brownsville. Harvey (2017) dropped 60 inches of rain and caused $125 billion in damage. The coast from Brownsville to Port Arthur faces direct hurricane landfall. Houston's flat terrain and impervious surfaces turn rain into citywide flooding.
Primary hazards: hurricanes, flooding, storm surge, heat, tornadoes
Dallas-Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, Lubbock, Amarillo. DFW is the largest metro in Tornado Alley. The Panhandle produces classic Great Plains supercells. The 2015 tornado and flood season killed dozens across the region. Summer heat regularly exceeds 105 degrees F.
Primary hazards: tornadoes, severe storms, hail, extreme heat, flash flooding
Austin, San Antonio, Waco, the Hill Country. Hill Country flash floods are among the most dangerous in the world. The 2015 Wimberley flood swept homes off their foundations. The Blanco, Guadalupe, and Colorado rivers flash flood during heavy rain. Uri showed the grid fails here too.
Primary hazards: flash flooding, winter storms (grid), severe storms, heat, drought
Your hazard profile
Each links to a full guide with during-event protocol, recovery steps, and resources specific to TX.
Harvey (2017) dropped 60 inches on Houston, $125 billion in damage. The Gulf Coast from Brownsville to Port Arthur faces direct landfall. Storm surge and rain flooding are both deadly.
Read the hurricanes guide →
Texas averages 155 tornadoes per year, more than any state. The DFW metro and Panhandle are prime territory. The I-35 corridor sees regular tornado activity.
Read the tornadoes guide →
Texas leads the nation in flood deaths. Hill Country flash floods are among the world's most dangerous. Houston floods chronically. Turn Around Don't Drown.
Read the flash flooding guide →
Prolonged temperatures above 100 degrees F across most of the state. The 2023 heat dome produced 40 consecutive days above 100 in some areas. Heat deaths are increasing.
Read the extreme heat guide →
Winter Storm Uri (2021) killed over 200 and left millions without power for days in sub-zero temperatures. The Texas grid's isolation creates unique vulnerability during extreme cold.
Read the grid vulnerability guide →
Texas resources
Texas Division of Emergency Management. Coordinates disaster response, hurricane evacuations, and wildfire response.
Texas's official emergency app. Shelter locations, evacuation routes, weather alerts, and disaster recovery information.
North Texas forecasts. Tornado warnings, severe storm tracking, heat advisories, and flood alerts for the DFW metro.
Southeast Texas forecasts. Hurricane advisories, flash flood warnings, and heat alerts for the Houston metro and Gulf Coast.
Flood planning, drought monitoring, and the state's water supply outlook.
Statewide referral service. Disaster recovery, energy assistance, food banks, and housing resources.
February 2021
In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri brought sub-zero temperatures to Texas for days. The state's power grid, isolated from the national system and not winterized for extreme cold, failed. Millions of Texans lost electricity. Pipes burst. Water systems failed. Over 200 people died, many from hypothermia in their own homes.
Uri was not unprecedented cold. It was unprecedented cold hitting a system not designed for it. Natural gas wellheads froze. Wind turbines iced over. Power plants tripped offline. The cascading failure left families without heat, water, or the ability to cook food for days in temperatures that dipped into the single digits.
For every Texas household, Uri's lesson is that the power grid is a single point of failure. A backup heat source (propane heater, wood stove), stored water, a way to cook without electricity, and the supplies to stay home for a week are the minimum. The grid may fail again. The question is whether you're ready when it does.