On FEMA’s figures, Cataula faces less hazard damage per building than 72% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cataula gets a B+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 72% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (79%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Cataula faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
What’s behind Cataula’s grade
River and rain flooding is 79% of the building damage FEMA expects in Cataula, and Cataula’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 53% of U.S. census tracts. Next is tornadoes at 10% (higher than 69% of U.S. census tracts).
B+ lower expected damage per building than 72% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Cataula’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $313K a year in losses across Cataula: $251K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Cataula flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cataula. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cataula isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Harris County.The storms Cataula remembers
None of the 10 disasters declared for Harris County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cataula itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Harris County has had 10 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Get ready for what Cataula faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Cataula
Is Cataula at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cataula has lower expected damage per building than 72% of U.S. towns: B+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (79%) and tornadoes (10%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Cataula in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Harris County, 22% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cataula?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cataula’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Cataula at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (79%), and Cataula’s rate for it is lower than 53% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cataula.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cataula’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.