Natural hazards · Delphos

Delphos, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Delphos comes from drought, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Delphos?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Delphos to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought.

Drought45%Inland flooding14%Cold waves11%Heat waves9%Tornadoes8%Hail7%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Delphos faces

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

Drought

45% of expected damage

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Delphos flood?

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

Disasters that hit Delphos

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DelphosDeclared for Ringgold County only

2024

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid $13K aid approved

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

4 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

Ringgold 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. Delphos 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 Delphos’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Delphos. 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.