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Natural hazards · Calamus

Calamus, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Calamus comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Calamus?

58
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Calamus to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding49%Drought16%Tornadoes11%Strong wind10%Cold waves6%Hail5%Everything else3%
By hazard

What Calamus faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Drought

16% of expected damage
Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Calamus flood?

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

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

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CalamusDeclared for Clinton County only
2020

Severe Storms

1 household applied for aid $15K to the City of Calamus for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $35K aid approved
2007

Severe Winter Storms

$1K to the City of Calamus for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid
Clinton County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
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. Calamus 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 Calamus’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Calamus. 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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