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Natural hazards · Birch Tree

Birch Tree, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Birch Tree comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2008. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Birch Tree?

80
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Birch Tree to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves46%Inland flooding28%Earthquakes7%Heat waves6%Tornadoes5%Strong wind5%Everything else3%
By hazard

What Birch Tree faces

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

Cold waves

46% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places
Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Birch Tree flood?

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

1paid claims since 2008
$10Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20082026

Biggest named events

  • March storm: 1 claim, $10K
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Birch Tree isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Shannon County.
Disasters that hit Birch Tree

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Birch TreeDeclared for Shannon County only
2025

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

14 households applied for aid $213K aid approved
2024

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

16 households applied for aid $116K aid approved
2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

40 households applied for aid $86K aid approved
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

$5K to the City of Birch Tree for repairs
2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$4K to the City of Birch Tree for repairs
2009

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $5K aid approved
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

29 households applied for aid $40K aid approved $28K to the City of Birch Tree for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storms and Flooding

$928 to the City of Birch Tree for repairs
2002

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

$22K to the City of Birch Tree for repairs
Shannon 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. Birch Tree 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 Birch Tree’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Birch Tree. 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.

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