Natural hazards · Bakersfield

Bakersfield, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bakersfield comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bakersfield?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bakersfield to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.

Inland flooding49%Heat waves18%Tornadoes11%Cold waves6%Strong wind5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Bakersfield faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 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 Bakersfield flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ozark County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Bakersfield

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BakersfieldDeclared for Ozark County only

2025

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

27 households applied for aid $317K aid approved $56K to the Village of Bakersfield for repairs

2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $9K aid approved $39K to the Village of Bakersfield for repairs

Ozark County has had 22 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. Bakersfield 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 Bakersfield’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Bakersfield. 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.