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O'Brien, Texas
Inside O'Brien's city limits, shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 16% of mapped land, the 5th-highest of 6 cities in Haskell County. A shallow water table limits basements on 0%.
That clay share is below Haskell County's 59%. FEMA's flood data list no flood losses since 2016 in ZIP code 79539 overlapping the city.
Data as of October 13, 2026 · sources · in Haskell County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 1 overlapping ZIP
Foundation repair in O'Brien
Foundation repair in O'Brien: shrink-swell clay limits slab homes on 16% of O'Brien's mapped land.
| Who designs the repair | The ASCE Texas Section's repair guidelines say a Texas-licensed engineer should evaluate the foundation and design the repair (2022 guidelines) |
| Prices | Cost guide ranges compared |
Soil under O'Brien city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 16.2% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 0.0% |
| Septic fields very limited | 67.2% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 2.7% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 16.2% |
| Mapped soil | 322 acres |
| Soil series | Share here | Series nationally: expansive clay |
|---|---|---|
| Devol | 28% | n/a |
| Miles | 23% | 0% |
| Nobscot | 23% | n/a |
| Abilene | 17% | n/a |
| Grandfield | 3% | n/a |
| Eda | 3% | n/a |
What the numbers mean here
Clay swell averages a linear extensibility of 2.7% by land area here, and 16% of the land reaches USDA's high class (6% or more). Clay like that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, under 16% of the mapped land.
Clay shrinks as it dries: 100% of Haskell County is in drought on the latest map, and 16% of O'Brien's mapped land has shrink-swell clay.
USDA rates 67% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
Drought in Haskell County
100% of Haskell County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the October 13, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap O'Brien. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 79539 | 100% | 0 | $0 |
Homes
O'Brien has fewer than 100 housing units in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, too few for reliable shares.
Nearby cities
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (October 13, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026). Methods · Data status