Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Oakhurst
Oakhurst isn’t graded for hazard risk: Oakhurst has 266 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Oakhurst 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.
Does Oakhurst flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Oakhurst. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Oakhurst isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: San Jacinto County.7 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Oakhurst
Disasters that paid out in Oakhurst itself (aid to households or repair grants to Oakhurst), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Beryl84 households applied for aid$111K aid approved
- 2024Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding65 households applied for aid$402K aid approved
- 2021Severe Winter Storms21 households applied for aid$48K aid approved
- 2017Hurricane Harvey41 households applied for aid$183K aid approved
- 2008Hurricane Ike70 households applied for aid$25K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Rita183 households applied for aid$153K aid approved
Show all 7
- 2002Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding21 households applied for aid$50K aid approved
San Jacinto County has had 25 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in San Jacinto County, 2025–2025.
Old photos of Oakhurst after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Oakhurst archive →Get ready for what Oakhurst 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 Oakhurst
Is Oakhurst 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 San Jacinto County, 15% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Oakhurst?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Oakhurst’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 Oakhurst?
By FEMA money that reached Oakhurst, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2024): 65 households applied for aid, $402K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Oakhurst.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Oakhurst’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.