Natural hazards · Dows

Dows, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dows 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 Dows?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dows to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought49%Inland flooding23%Cold waves12%Tornadoes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Dows faces

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

Drought

49% of expected damage

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Dows flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wright County.

Disasters that hit Dows

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DowsDeclared for Wright County only

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

14 households applied for aid $17K aid approved $11K to the City of Dows for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

29 households applied for aid $65K aid approved

2007

Snow

$949 to the City of Dows for repairs

Wright County has had 22 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. Dows 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 Dows’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Dows. 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.