Chambers County, Texas

What hazards hit Chambers County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 76 since 1959. The rank column places the county among Texas's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Chambers County had?

NOAA records 33 tornadoes in Chambers County from 1954 to 2024, the strongest rated EF3, with 4 deaths and 9 injuries recorded in the county. That is 64th of 254 Texas counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 34 tornadoes whose track touched Chambers County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 33: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 4 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Texas.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Chambers County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the December 28, 2024 tornado (1 injury).

The local fire department initially reported that a car near Smith Point was thrown by a tornado. The survey team found evidence of long track tornado from just east of Smith Point through the Chambers/Jefferson County border. Multiple spots of EF2 damage were found with snapped wooden power line poles and a tossed and destroyed mobile homes. EF3 damage was found along FM 1941 and TX-124 where two steel transmission lines were blown down. One injury was reported with this tornado, which had occurred along Smith Point Rd where a pickup truck was tossed, confirming the initial report by the fire department. Based on radar data, it is likely this track is a direct continuation of the tornado on the west side of the Galveston Bay. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1224049)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Chambers County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Chambers County. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Chambers County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Chambers County: 13 major disasters, 10 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (11) and flood (3).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Chambers County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 49 flood or flash flood records for Chambers County from 1996 to 2026, on 39 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Chambers County ranks 185th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $129 million on 2,096 claims filed in Chambers County; the most in one year was 728 in 2017. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Chambers County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Chambers County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $30.4 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Chambers County

1. Harris County 2,111
2. Galveston County 832
3. Jefferson County 802
4. Liberty County 420
5. Chambers County 279

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in TexasEvery Texas tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in TexasThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Texas recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Chambers CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Chambers County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis