Natural hazards · Williams

Williams, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Williams 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 Williams?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Williams to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought42%Inland flooding28%Tornadoes12%Cold waves9%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Williams 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 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 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 Williams flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hamilton County.

Disasters that hit Williams

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WilliamsDeclared for Hamilton County only

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

5 households applied for aid $16K aid approved $4K to the City of Williams for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

15 households applied for aid $43K aid approved $4K to the City of Williams for repairs

Hamilton County has had 19 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. Williams 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 Williams’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Williams. 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.