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C−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Bayou Vista · FEMA

FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Bayou Vista than in 78% of U.S. towns, led by hurricanes

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bayou Vista gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (38%), then coastal flooding (29%). Flood insurance has paid 272 claims here since 1998.

Hurricanes 38%Coastal flooding 29%River and rain flooding 29%

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

more than 78%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
C−
in Texas · higher than 78% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
Hurricanes
38% of expected building damage
Flood claims
272
paid since 1998 · $7.4M
Flooded more than once
36
properties · 24 “severe repetitive loss”
Disasters paid out here
6
of 25 declared for Galveston County

What stands out about Bayou Vista’s natural hazards

From FEMA’s model and FEMA’s records, below.

272 paid flood claims since 1998$7.4M in all; 36 properties flooded more than once. More per home than 98% of U.S. towns.Coastal flooding: the top 1% of U.S. tractsFEMA’s building-damage rate for coastal flooding here ranks in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts; it is 29.2% of the damage it expects.Moved out of harm’s way3 homes raised above flood level with FEMA grants.Remembers 2024137 flood claims were paid for 2024 alone, the most of any year.
By hazard

What Bayou Vista faces

Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.

Hurricanes

38%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Coastal flooding

29%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts

River and rain flooding

29%of expected building damage
Below average · lower than 78% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Cold waves top 1% Wildfire Hail Strong wind Ice storms Lightning Earthquakes Winter storms Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 24% of Bayou Vista’s expected losses. Cold waves do little damage to buildings (0.5%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Bayou Vista’s grade

Hurricanes are 38% of the building damage FEMA expects in Bayou Vista, and Bayou Vista’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts. Coastal flooding adds 29%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Bayou Vista sits
Bayou Vista
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C− higher expected damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Bayou Vista’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
Hurricanes38%Coastal flooding29%River and rain flooding29%Everything else4%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.2M a year in losses across Bayou Vista: $698K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Recent disaster.FEMA’s model looks at expected damage to the buildings standing today. After Hurricane Beryl in 2024, FEMA took 254 aid registrations from Bayou Vista addresses (the town has 1,151 homes) and flood insurance paid 137 claims for $3.7M.
Shared tract.All of Bayou Vista’s 1,763 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Tiki Island village (1,106 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Bayou Vista flood? Yes: 272 flood claims since 1998

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Bayou Vista, from FEMA’s records: 236.3 per 1,000 homes, more than 98% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1998: 8 claims1999: 0 claims2000: 0 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 2 claims2003: 1 claim2004: 0 claims2005: 1 claim2006: 1 claim2007: 0 claims2008: 116 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 0 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 3 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 3 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 137 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims199820082024
19982026
Biggest named events
  • Hurricane Beryl137 claims · $3.7M
  • Hurricane Ike113 claims · $3.5M
  • Tropical Storm Nicholas3 claims · $93K
272
paid claims since 1998
$7.4M
paid to owners
36
homes flooded more than once
$27K
average claim
Homes that flooded again and again
FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (24)Flooded 2+ times
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Bayou Vista isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Galveston County.
What’s been done with FEMA grants
3homes raised above flood level
Disasters

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Bayou Vista

Disasters that paid out in Bayou Vista itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Bayou Vista), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2024Hurricane Beryl254 households applied for aid$553K aid approved$373K to the City of Bayou Vista for repairs137 flood claims paid for it, $3.7M
  2. 2021Severe Winter Storms3 households applied for aid$1K aid approved3 flood claims paid that year
  3. 2017Hurricane Harvey23 households applied for aid$2K aid approved$55K to the City of Bayou Vista for repairs3 flood claims paid for it, $20K
  4. 2008Hurricane Ike539 households applied for aid$1.0M aid approved$1.9M to the City of Bayou Vista for repairs113 flood claims paid for it, $3.5M
  5. 2005Hurricane Rita63 households applied for aid$14K aid approved1 flood claim paid for it, $757
  6. 2003Hurricane Claudette1 households applied for aid$1K aid approved1 flood claim paid that year
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Bayou VistaGalveston County only

Galveston County has had 25 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.

Were you here?

Old photos of Bayou Vista after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Bayou Vista archive →
Next door

Bayou Vista and its neighbors

Bayou Vista is 2nd of the 3 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Hitchcock: hazard risk C−La Marque: hazard risk C+HitchcockLa MarqueBayou Vista
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
La MarqueC+more damage than 62%hurricanes1,281
Bayou VistaC−more damage than 78%hurricanes272
HitchcockC−more damage than 83%river and rain flooding1,273

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Bayou Vista faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

Hurricane season
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
When the tide surges
  • Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
  • Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
  • Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
More from Ready.gov ↗
When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Bayou Vista

Is Bayou Vista at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bayou Vista has higher expected damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (38%) and coastal flooding (29%). 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.

Does Bayou Vista flood?

Flood insurance has paid 272 claims in Bayou Vista since 1998, $7.4M in all, or 236.3 per 1,000 homes, more than 98% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. 36 properties have flooded more than once. The most claims came from Hurricane Beryl (137).

Is Bayou Vista 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 Galveston County, 66% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 42.2% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Bayou Vista?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bayou Vista’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

What was the biggest storm in Bayou Vista?

By FEMA money that reached Bayou Vista, Hurricane Ike (2008): 539 households applied for aid, $1.0M approved, and $1.9M to the City of Bayou Vista for repairs. By flood claims, Hurricane Beryl: 137 paid, $3.7M.

Is Bayou Vista at risk from hurricanes?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (38%), and Bayou Vista’s rate for it is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bayou Vista.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bayou Vista’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.