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Natural hazards · Windsor Heights

Windsor Heights, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Windsor Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 13 claims here since 1986. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Windsor Heights?

60
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Windsor Heights to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding61%Tornadoes16%Heat waves6%Strong wind6%Cold waves5%Everything else6%
By hazard

What Windsor Heights faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Windsor Heights flood?

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

13paid claims since 1986
$295Kpaid to owners
2homes flooded more than once
19862026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
🏷️ 10% off flood insurance. Windsor Heights is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 8) for its flood-proofing work.
Insurance rates: Polk County.
Disasters that hit Windsor Heights

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Windsor HeightsDeclared for Polk County only
2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $2K aid approved
2024

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

3 households applied for aid $300 aid approved
2020

Severe Storms

24 households applied for aid $117K to the City of Windsor Heights for repairs
2018

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$56K to the City of Windsor Heights for repairs
2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

20 households applied for aid $28K aid approved $45K to the City of Windsor Heights for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

35 households applied for aid $26K aid approved $89K to the City of Windsor Heights for repairs
2007

Severe Winter Storms

$17K to the City of Windsor Heights for repairs
Polk County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Windsor Heights

Windsor Heights and the towns around it

Clive: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWest Des Moines: Low, mostly inland floodingDes Moines: Low, mostly inland floodingWaukee: Low, mostly inland floodingUrbandale: Low, mostly inland floodingCumming: Low, mostly inland floodingNorwalk: Very low, mostly inland floodingPleasant Hill: Very low, mostly inland floodingWindsor Heights: High, mostly inland flooding Windsor HeightsCliveWest Des MoinesDes Moines
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Windsor Heightsmostly inland floodingHigh
Clivemostly inland floodingModerate
West Des Moinesmostly inland floodingLow
Des Moinesmostly inland floodingLow
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. Windsor Heights covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Windsor Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Windsor Heights. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Windsor Heights total about $1.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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
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