Natural hazards · Okoboji

Okoboji, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Okoboji comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 2018. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Okoboji?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Okoboji to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding68%Tornadoes16%Cold waves6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Okoboji faces

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

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 74 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Okoboji flood?

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

8paid claims since 2018

$204Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20182026

Biggest named events

June Midwest Flooding: 4 claims, $53K
Iowa Flooding: 1 claim, $96K
March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $37K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dickinson County.

Disasters that hit Okoboji

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OkobojiDeclared for Dickinson County only

2024

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

26 households applied for aid $72K aid approved $54K to the City of Okoboji for repairs

2011

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$5K to the City of Okoboji for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$10K to the City of Okoboji for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm

$5K to the City of Okoboji for repairs

2007

Snow

$2K to the City of Okoboji for repairs

Dickinson County has had 16 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. Okoboji covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Okoboji’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Okoboji. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Okoboji total about $4.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.