Natural hazards · What Cheer

What Cheer, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in What Cheer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1990. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is What Cheer?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding48%Tornadoes13%Strong wind12%Drought7%Hail7%Heat waves5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What What Cheer faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 What Cheer flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in What Cheer, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 1990

$17Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19902026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Keokuk County.

Disasters that hit What Cheer

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into What CheerDeclared for Keokuk County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$19K to the City of What Cheer for repairs

Keokuk County has had 16 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. What Cheer 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 What Cheer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of What Cheer. 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.