Natural hazards · Buffalo

Buffalo, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1998.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buffalo?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Earthquakes52%Inland flooding15%Drought11%Tornadoes6%Heat waves6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Buffalo faces

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

Earthquakes

52% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Buffalo flood?

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

5paid claims since 1998

$39Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19982026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $5K
March storm: 1 claim, $2K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dunklin County.

Disasters that hit Buffalo

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BuffaloDeclared for Dunklin County only

Dunklin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Buffalo

Buffalo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Buffalomostly earthquakesVery high

Arbyrdmostly earthquakesVery high

Salemmostly earthquakesVery high

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. Buffalo covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Buffalo’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Buffalo. 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 Buffalo total about $2.0M 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.