Natural hazards · Cobalt

Cobalt, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cobalt comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2013.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cobalt?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cobalt to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding27%Cold waves25%Heat waves17%Earthquakes13%Tornadoes10%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Cobalt faces

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

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Cobalt flood?

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

1paid claims since 2013

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20132026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Madison County.

Disasters that hit Cobalt

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CobaltDeclared for Madison County only

Madison 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. Cobalt 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 Cobalt’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Cobalt. 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.