Natural hazards · Alma

Alma, MO natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alma to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding38%Cold waves30%Tornadoes12%Heat waves6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Alma faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Alma flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lafayette County.

Disasters that hit Alma

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AlmaDeclared for Lafayette County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$3K to the City of Alma for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$6K to the City of Alma for repairs

Lafayette County has had 21 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. Alma 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 Alma’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Alma. 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.