Natural hazards · Elm

Elm, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elm comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elm?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elm to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding33%Tornadoes19%Drought17%Cold waves11%Heat waves6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Elm faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Elm flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Putnam County.

Disasters that hit Elm

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElmDeclared for Putnam County only

Putnam County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

Around Elm

Elm and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elmmostly inland floodingModerate

Richlandmostly inland floodingModerate

Libertymostly inland floodingModerate

Grantmostly inland floodingModerate

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. Elm 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 Elm’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Elm. 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.