Natural hazards · Dale

Dale, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dale comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Dale?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dale to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding45%Earthquakes17%Tornadoes15%Strong wind9%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Dale faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 37 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Dale flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Spencer County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Dale

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DaleDeclared for Spencer County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$4K to the Town of Dale for repairs

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

3 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $6K to the Town of Dale for repairs

Spencer 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. Dale 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 Dale’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Dale. 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.