Photo: Jim Evans · CC BY-SA 4.0On FEMA’s figures, Bolivar Peninsula faces more hazard damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns, led by river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bolivar Peninsula gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns, #629 of 642 in Texas. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (35%), then coastal flooding (27%). Flood insurance has paid 3,972 claims here since 1979.
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 stands out about Bolivar Peninsula’s natural hazards
From FEMA’s model and FEMA’s records, below.
What Bolivar Peninsula 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
Coastal flooding
Hurricanes
Wildfire
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 Bolivar Peninsula’s grade
River and rain flooding is 35% of the building damage FEMA expects in Bolivar Peninsula, and Bolivar Peninsula’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 61% of U.S. census tracts. Coastal flooding adds 27%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
D #629 of 642 in Texas; higher expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Bolivar Peninsula’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical Texas town has higher expected damage than 50% of U.S. towns; within the state, Bolivar Peninsula has more expected damage per building than 98% of Texas towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $4.2M a year in losses across Bolivar Peninsula: $3.5M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Bolivar Peninsula flood? Yes: 3,972 flood claims since 1979
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Bolivar Peninsula, from FEMA’s records: 1,174.5 per 1,000 homes, more than 100% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.
- Hurricane Ike2,886 claims · $339M
- Hurricane Alicia454 claims · $2.3M
- Hurricane Claudette132 claims · $855K
Bolivar Peninsula 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.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Bolivar Peninsula
Disasters that paid out in Bolivar Peninsula itself (aid to households or repair grants to Bolivar Peninsula), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Beryl3 households applied for aid$7K aid approved12 flood claims paid for it, $44K
- 2017Hurricane Harvey4 households applied for aid$250 aid approved8 flood claims paid that year
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.
Old photos of Bolivar Peninsula after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Bolivar Peninsula archive →Get ready for what Bolivar Peninsula 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Bolivar Peninsula
Is Bolivar Peninsula at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bolivar Peninsula has higher expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #629 of 642 in Texas. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (35%) and coastal flooding (27%). 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 Bolivar Peninsula flood?
Flood insurance has paid 3,972 claims in Bolivar Peninsula since 1979, $349M in all, or 1,174.5 per 1,000 homes, more than 100% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Hurricane Ike (2,886).
Is Bolivar Peninsula 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 Bolivar Peninsula?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bolivar Peninsula’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 Bolivar Peninsula?
By FEMA money that reached Bolivar Peninsula, Hurricane Beryl (2024): 3 households applied for aid, $7K approved. By flood claims, Hurricane Ike: 2,886 paid, $339M.
Is Bolivar Peninsula at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (35%), and Bolivar Peninsula’s rate for it is higher than 61% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bolivar Peninsula.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bolivar Peninsula’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.