Natural hazards · Nichols

Nichols, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Nichols comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1983. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Nichols?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Nichols to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding44%Strong wind11%Drought11%Hail9%Tornadoes8%Heat waves7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Nichols faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 Nichols flood?

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

4paid claims since 1983

$115Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Muscatine County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Nichols

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NicholsDeclared for Muscatine County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

50 households applied for aid $722K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $22K aid approved

2001

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

$2K to the City of Nichols for repairs

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

Nichols, IA natural hazards

How exposed is Nichols?

What Nichols faces

Inland flooding

Strong wind

Drought

Hail

Tornadoes

Heat waves

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Nichols flood?

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

How to read this page

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