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Natural hazards · Doniphan

Doniphan, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Doniphan comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 74 claims here since 1979. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Doniphan?

88
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Doniphan to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding43%Earthquakes27%Cold waves10%Tornadoes8%Heat waves6%Everything else6%
By hazard

What Doniphan faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

27% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Cold waves

10% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 35 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places
Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

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 Doniphan flood?

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

74paid claims since 1979
$2.4Mpaid to owners
9homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • March storm: 9 claims, $674K
  • Late spring severe storms: 7 claims, $889K
  • Mid-spring storms: 6 claims, $200K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (3) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Doniphan isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Ripley County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

44flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
1storm safe rooms built
Disasters that hit Doniphan

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DoniphanDeclared for Ripley County only
2025

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

9 households applied for aid $8K aid approved
2025

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

42 households applied for aid $91K aid approved
2024

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

110 households applied for aid $277K aid approved
2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

177 households applied for aid $878K aid approved $222K to the City of Doniphan for repairs
2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

76 households applied for aid $218K aid approved $55K to the City of Doniphan for repairs
2009

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

9 households applied for aid $22K aid approved
2009

Severe Winter Storm

$30K to the City of Doniphan for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

62 households applied for aid $238K aid approved $35K to the City of Doniphan for repairs
Ripley 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. Doniphan 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 Doniphan’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Doniphan. 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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