Natural hazards · Durango

Durango, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Durango comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 17 claims here since 1978. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Durango?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Durango to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding52%Tornadoes17%Cold waves10%Hail9%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Durango faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Hail

9% 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 wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Durango flood?

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

17paid claims since 1978

$339Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Late spring storms: 5 claims, $132K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dubuque County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Durango

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DurangoDeclared for Dubuque County only

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

7 households applied for aid $22K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

16 households applied for aid $44K aid approved

Dubuque 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. Durango 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 Durango’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Durango. 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.