Natural hazards · Rockwell

Rockwell, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rockwell comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rockwell?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rockwell to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought42%Inland flooding28%Tornadoes14%Cold waves10%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Rockwell faces

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

Drought

42% of expected damage

Recorded about 25 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 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 Rockwell flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cerro Gordo County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Rockwell

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RockwellDeclared for Cerro Gordo County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

55 households applied for aid $84K aid approved $11K to the City of Rockwell for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

23 households applied for aid $35K aid approved

Cerro Gordo County has had 13 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. Rockwell 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 Rockwell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rockwell. 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.

Rockwell, IA natural hazards

How exposed is Rockwell?

What Rockwell faces

Drought

Inland flooding

Tornadoes

Cold waves

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Rockwell flood?

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

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