Refugio County, Texas

What hazards hit Refugio County most?

The most frequent records are drought records: 120 since 2006. 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 Refugio County had?

NOAA records 25 tornadoes in Refugio County from 1963 to 2020, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 2 injuries recorded in the county. 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 25 tornadoes whose track touched Refugio County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 25, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 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 Refugio County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 1, 2022 drought ($13.7 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Extreme drought over the area improved to abnormally dry by the end of the month. Crop losses for the season were estimated at 13.63 million dollars due to the drought.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1055727)

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 Refugio 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 Refugio County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Refugio County

FEMA's register lists 28 declarations that include Refugio County: 17 major disasters, 11 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (15) and flood (4).

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 Refugio County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 55 flood or flash flood records for Refugio County from 1997 to 2026, on 41 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Refugio County ranks 1201st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.0 million on 122 claims filed in Refugio County; the most in one year was 40 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 Refugio County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Refugio County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $7.9 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 Refugio County

1. Victoria County 639
2. San Patricio County 619
3. Bee County 452
4. Calhoun County 419
5. Aransas County 375
6. Refugio County 325
7. Goliad County 316

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
• Drought in TexasThe state's drought records, 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 Refugio CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Refugio County's FEMA declarations (CSV)28 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis