Spillville’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Spillville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 2016. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Spillville’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Spillville flood? Sometimes: 10 flood claims since 2016
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Spillville, from FEMA’s records.
Spillville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Winneshiek County.How exposed is Spillville?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.
Rated higher than 765 of the 1,026 Iowa towns we cover.
Spillville is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Spillville faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Hail
Cold waves
Drought
8 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Spillville
Disasters that paid out in Spillville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Spillville) and its biggest flood years.
- 2024Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes$8K to the City of Spillville for repairs
- 2019Severe Storms and Flooding$65K to the City of Spillville for repairs
- 2018Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding$16K to the City of Spillville for repairs
- 2017Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding$4K to the City of Spillville for repairs
- 2016Severe Storms and Flooding$4K to the City of Spillville for repairs7 flood claims paid that year
- 2016Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding$251K to the City of Spillville for repairs
Show all 8
- 2008Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding18 households applied for aid$145K aid approved$148K to the City of Spillville for repairs
- 2004Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding1 household applied for aid
Winneshiek County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Old photos of Spillville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Spillville archive →Get ready for what Spillville actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in June–August
The month each of Winneshiek County’s 19 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Spillville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Spillville.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Spillville.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.