Natural hazards · Brooklyn

Brooklyn, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brooklyn comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brooklyn?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brooklyn to be higher than in 40% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought40%Inland flooding26%Tornadoes12%Strong wind9%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Brooklyn faces

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

Drought

40% of expected damage

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Brooklyn flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Poweshiek County.

Disasters that hit Brooklyn

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrooklynDeclared for Poweshiek County only

2020

Severe Storms

17 households applied for aid $25K aid approved $85K to the City of Brooklyn for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $12K to the City of Brooklyn for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$18K to the City of Brooklyn for repairs

Poweshiek County has had 13 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. Brooklyn 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 Brooklyn’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Brooklyn. 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.