Natural hazards · Oxford

Oxford, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oxford comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oxford?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oxford to be higher than in 70% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes37%Inland flooding27%Cold waves12%Strong wind11%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Oxford faces

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

Tornadoes

37% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Oxford flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Johnson County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Oxford

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OxfordDeclared for Johnson County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $5K aid approved $11K to the City of Oxford for repairs

Johnson County has had 20 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. Oxford 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 Oxford’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Oxford. 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.