Natural hazards · Wellsburg

Wellsburg, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wellsburg comes from drought, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Wellsburg?

38
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wellsburg to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought34%Inland flooding28%Hail11%Tornadoes10%Cold waves9%Strong wind6%Everything else2%
By hazard

What Wellsburg faces

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

Drought

34% of expected damage
Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places
Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Wellsburg flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Wellsburg isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Grundy County.
Disasters that hit Wellsburg

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WellsburgDeclared for Grundy County only
2013

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$3K to the City of Wellsburg for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $1K aid approved $21K to the City of Wellsburg for repairs
2007

Severe Winter Storms

$4K to the City of Wellsburg for repairs
Grundy County has had 12 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. Wellsburg 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 Wellsburg’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wellsburg. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01