Natural hazards · Omaha

Omaha, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Omaha comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Omaha?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Omaha to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding29%Cold waves28%Tornadoes16%Ice storms11%Strong wind5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Omaha faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Ice storms

11% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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

Flood insurance claims

Does Omaha flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Omaha.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Omaha isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Boone County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Omaha

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Omaha itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Omaha.

Brought FEMA money into OmahaDeclared for Boone County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

5 households applied for aid

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

2 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $137 aid approved

Boone County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Omaha is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Omaha’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Omaha. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.