Natural hazards · Waterloo

Waterloo, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Waterloo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Waterloo?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Waterloo to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding47%Wildfire20%Tornadoes9%Ice storms6%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Waterloo faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

20% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HailWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Waterloo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lyon County.

Disasters that hit Waterloo

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Lyon County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Waterloo itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into WaterlooDeclared for Lyon County only

Lyon County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Waterloo

Waterloo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Waterloomostly inland floodingVery high

Ivymostly inland floodingVery high

Wilmingtonmostly inland floodingVery high

Plumbmostly inland floodingVery high

Readingmostly inland floodingVery high

Dragoonmostly inland floodingHigh

Grantmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Waterloo 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 Waterloo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Waterloo. 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.