Natural hazards · Cedar Falls

Cedar Falls, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cedar Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 664 claims here since 1979. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cedar Falls?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cedar Falls to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding43%Tornadoes31%Strong wind10%Cold waves5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Cedar Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

31% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Cedar Falls flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Cedar Falls, from FEMA’s records.

664paid claims since 1979

$17.7Mpaid to owners

76homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Storm: 176 claims, $11.2M
Midwest Flooding: 20 claims, $95K
March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 11 claims, $130K

Homes that flooded again and again

Each house = 2 homes. ■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (17) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 25% off flood insurance. Cedar Falls is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 5) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Black Hawk County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

338flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

21flood-prone homes bought out and moved

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Cedar Falls

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Cedar FallsDeclared for Black Hawk County only

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

$519K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

2014

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

$46K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

11 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

2009

Severe Storm

$211K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

976 households applied for aid $6.9M aid approved $4.0M to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$58K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

49 households applied for aid $70K aid approved $34K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

1999

Severe Storms and Flooding

$263K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

1999

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$59K to the City of Cedar Falls for repairs

Black Hawk County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Cedar Falls

Cedar Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Waterloomostly inland floodingLow

Cedar Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

Hudsonmostly droughtLow

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. Cedar Falls covers 8 census tracts, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Cedar Falls total about $8.8M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.