Natural hazards · Miles

Miles, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Miles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Miles?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Miles to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding47%Drought13%Tornadoes11%Cold waves10%Strong wind8%Hail8%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Miles faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Miles flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jackson County.

Disasters that hit Miles

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Jackson County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Miles itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into MilesDeclared for Jackson County only

Jackson County has had 19 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. Miles 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 Miles’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Miles. 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.