Exline’s biggest natural hazard is drought
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Exline comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Exline’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Exline flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Exline. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Exline isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Appanoose County.How exposed is Exline?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.
Calmer than 527 of the 1,026 Iowa towns we cover.
Exline is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Exline faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Drought
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Cold waves
Heat waves
4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Exline
Disasters that paid out in Exline itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Exline) and its biggest flood years.
- 2013Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding$4K to the City of Exline for repairs
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes11 households applied for aid$25K aid approved$58K to the City of Exline for repairs
- 2008Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding2 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
- 2004Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding1 household applied for aid$534 aid approved
Appanoose County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Old photos of Exline after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Exline archive →Get ready for what Exline actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in April–June
The month each of Appanoose County’s 14 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Exline’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Exline.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Exline.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Weather alerts: National Weather Service. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.