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Natural hazards · Buffalo Center

Buffalo Center, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo Center comes from drought, and overall the risk is low 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 Buffalo Center?

36
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buffalo Center to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought48%Inland flooding19%Cold waves16%Tornadoes8%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Buffalo Center faces

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

Drought

48% of expected damage
Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places
Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Buffalo Center flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Buffalo Center isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Winnebago County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built
Disasters that hit Buffalo Center

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Buffalo CenterDeclared for Winnebago County only
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $9K aid approved
2007

Severe Winter Storms

$4K to the City of Buffalo Center for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $4K aid approved
Winnebago County has had 14 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. Buffalo Center 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 Buffalo Center’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Buffalo Center. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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