FEMA puts Alto Bonito Heights’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 62% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Alto Bonito Heights gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 62% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (81%). 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 Alto Bonito Heights 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
Wildfire
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 Alto Bonito Heights’ grade
River and rain flooding is 81% of the building damage FEMA expects in Alto Bonito Heights, and Alto Bonito Heights’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 74% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 7%, at a rate in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.
C+ higher expected damage per building than 62% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Alto Bonito Heights’ residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $139K a year in losses across Alto Bonito Heights: $41K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Alto Bonito Heights flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Alto Bonito Heights. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Alto Bonito Heights isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Starr County.The storms Alto Bonito Heights remembers
None of the 17 disasters declared for Starr County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Alto Bonito Heights itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Starr County has had 17 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 Alto Bonito Heights 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.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- 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 Alto Bonito Heights
Is Alto Bonito Heights at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Alto Bonito Heights has higher expected damage per building than 62% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (81%) and wildfire (7%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Alto Bonito Heights 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 Starr County, 4% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Alto Bonito Heights?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Alto Bonito Heights’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Alto Bonito Heights at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (81%), and Alto Bonito Heights’ rate for it is higher than 74% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Alto Bonito Heights.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Alto Bonito Heights’ 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.