Natural hazards · Orleans

Orleans, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Orleans comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Orleans?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Orleans to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding61%Tornadoes15%Cold waves8%Hail7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Orleans faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Orleans flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Orleans 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 Orleans

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OrleansDeclared for Dickinson County only

2024

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

1 household applied for aid $2K aid approved

2014

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

$4K to the City of Orleans for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm

$3K to the City of Orleans for repairs

2007

Snow

$1K to the City of Orleans 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. Orleans 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 Orleans’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Orleans. 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.