Natural hazards · Moorhead

Moorhead, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Moorhead comes from inland flooding, 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 Moorhead?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Moorhead to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding42%Drought17%Hail15%Tornadoes14%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Moorhead faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Hail

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Moorhead flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Monona County.

Disasters that hit Moorhead

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MoorheadDeclared for Monona County only

2019

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $828 aid approved

Monona County has had 18 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. Moorhead 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 Moorhead’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Moorhead. 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.