Wood County, Texas

What hazards hit Wood County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 242 since 1955. 49% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in May and June. 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 Wood County had?

NOAA records 46 tornadoes in Wood County from 1954 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 18 injuries recorded in the county. That is 21st of 254 Texas counties and 287th of 3,080 U.S. 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 45 tornadoes whose track touched Wood County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 46: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); 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 Wood County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 4, 2025 tornado (1 injury and $200,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

This is a continuation of the Northeast Smith County tornado. This EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph tracked from the Sabine River bottoms across Highway 80 west of Hawkins and south of West Upper Lake, where a fairly intense and concentrated area of snapped pine trees were observed along CR 3440. One home in this area lost a few metal roof panels. The tornado continued northeast, snapping and uprooting more trees as it crossed CR 3431 and CR 3419. One home along CR 3419 suffered the failure of a large, well-built carport. However, the bottom of the wooden posts supporting the carport appeared to be somewhat rotted. The tornado continued to track northeast, crossing CR 3480 and CR 3525. It entered a large area of open land with no roads, but the Shreveport Dopplar Radar indicated a near-continuous tornado debris signature (TDS) for the duration of its lifespan. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1256341)

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 Wood 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?

49% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Wood County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Wood County: 7 major disasters, 9 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for hurricane (5) and fire (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 Wood County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 71 flood or flash flood records for Wood County from 1997 to 2025, on 39 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Wood County ranks 2321st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $155,000 on 11 claims filed in Wood County; the most in one year was 3 in 2016. 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 Wood County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Wood County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $15.2 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 Wood County

1. Smith County 1,252
2. Hopkins County 754
3. Wood County 708
4. Van Zandt County 644
5. Upshur County 612
6. Franklin County 438
7. Camp County 405
8. Rains County 347

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 Wood CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Wood County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis