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Natural hazards · Mystic

Mystic, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mystic comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1980. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Mystic?

53
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mystic to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought39%Inland flooding29%Tornadoes14%Cold waves6%Everything else13%
By hazard

What Mystic faces

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

Drought

39% of expected damage
Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year 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 Mystic flood?

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

7paid claims since 1980
$103Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19802026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Mystic 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

8flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Mystic

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MysticDeclared for Appanoose County only
2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$55K to the City of Mystic for repairs
2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

47 households applied for aid $51K aid approved $18K to the City of Mystic for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

21 households applied for aid $62K aid approved $184K to the City of Mystic for repairs
2007

Severe Winter Storm

$10K to the City of Mystic for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$45K to the City of Mystic for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $4K aid approved $3K to the City of Mystic for repairs
Appanoose County has had 14 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. Mystic 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 Mystic’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mystic. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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