Natural hazards · Rock Rapids

Rock Rapids, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rock Rapids 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 Rock Rapids?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rock Rapids to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding45%Hail17%Tornadoes15%Cold waves9%Drought5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Rock Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Rock Rapids flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lyon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

96flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Rock Rapids

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Rock RapidsDeclared for Lyon County only

2024

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

314 households applied for aid $1.9M aid approved $1.2M to the City of Rock Rapids for repairs

2014

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

$884K to the City of Rock Rapids for repairs

2013

Severe Winter Storm

$44K to the City of Rock Rapids for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

9 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Lyon County has had 14 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. Rock Rapids 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 Rock Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rock Rapids. 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.