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Risk & Response

Matagorda County, TX

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 87.8 Very High

36,329
Population
8
Departments
7
Stations
13
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.35
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
125th highest of 254
Life Safety per 100k
0.97
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
174th highest of 254
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$25.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
38th highest of 254
Property Loss per Resident
$705
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
19th highest of 254

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Matagorda County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 23% of the life-safety total.

Matagorda County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $25.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 254 Texas counties. Nationally, Matagorda County ranks 1373rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1779th for life safety per 100k residents, 711th for property loss, and 371st for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Matagorda County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Matagorda County.

Talk to us about Matagorda County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

77%
15%
9%
Property (buildings): $25.6M (76.9%)
Life safety: $4.8M (14.5%)
Agriculture: $2.8M (8.5%)

Total expected annual loss: $33,307,194 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Agriculture is 9% of expected annual loss in Matagorda County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Cold Wave
$1.1M
Tornado
$1.1M
Heat Wave
$867K
Hurricane
$861K
Inland Flooding
$354K
Lightning
$301K

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$17.9M
Inland Flooding
$6.4M
Coastal Flooding
$691K
Tornado
$254K
Wildfire
$159K
Hail
$74K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Matagorda County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

12%
88%
Combination: 12% (1)
Volunteer: 88% (7)
Residents per Station
5,190
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
19.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 8 departments registered in NERIS Public for Matagorda County, TX. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Matagorda County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 8 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Sabine Fire And Rescue 18,993 $3.0M Relatively Moderate 0
Bay City Volunteer Fire Department 20,203 $2.7M Very High 1
Palacios Volunteer Fire Department 6,039 $630.0K Very High 1
Van Vleck Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 3,123 $479.5K Very High 0
Markham Volunteer Fire Department 1,146 $162.0K Very High 1
Blessing Volunteer Fire Department 914 $129.2K Very High 1
Matagorda Volunteer Fire Department 860 $111.0K Very High 2
Midfield Volunteer Fire Department 526 $74.3K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

20.7%
Poverty Rate
18.2%
Age 65+
17.5%
Disability Rate
17.9%
Uninsured
51.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
12.1%
Mobile Homes
19.0%
Vacancy Rate
0.5%
Wood Heat
$57,976
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

8
Last 10 Years
19
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo