Natural hazards · St. Louis

St. Louis, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Louis comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1986. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Louis?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Louis to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding58%Tornadoes15%Cold waves12%Strong wind9%Everything else6%

By hazard

What St. Louis faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 St. Louis flood?

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

1paid claims since 1986

$5Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19862026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Gratiot County.

Disasters that hit St. Louis

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into St. LouisDeclared for Gratiot County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $50K aid approved

Gratiot County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around St. Louis

St. Louis and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Almamostly inland floodingModerate

St. Louismostly inland floodingModerate

Pine Rivermostly inland floodingModerate

Bethanymostly inland floodingModerate

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. St. Louis covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to St. Louis’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of St. Louis. 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 St. Louis total about $2.7M 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.