Natural hazards · Paton

Paton, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Paton comes from drought, and overall the risk is low 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 Paton?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Paton to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and tornadoes.

Drought40%Tornadoes20%Cold waves16%Inland flooding14%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Paton faces

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

Drought

40% of expected damage

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 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 Paton flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Greene County.

Disasters that hit Paton

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PatonDeclared for Greene County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $19K aid approved

Greene County has had 17 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. Paton 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 Paton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Paton. 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.