Natural hazards · Excelsior Springs

Excelsior Springs, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Excelsior Springs comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 84 claims here since 1981. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Excelsior Springs?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Excelsior Springs to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves18%Tornadoes11%Heat waves8%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Excelsior Springs faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Excelsior Springs flood?

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

84paid claims since 1981

$2.6Mpaid to owners

10homes flooded more than once

19812026

Biggest named events

Midwest Flooding: 24 claims, $534K

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. Excelsior Springs isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Clay County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

70flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Excelsior Springs

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Excelsior SpringsDeclared for Clay County only

2015

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

$33K to the City of Excelsior Springs for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

11 households applied for aid $54K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $219 aid approved

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$63K to the City of Excelsior Springs for repairs

Clay County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Excelsior Springs

Excelsior Springs and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Excelsior Springsmostly inland floodingHigh

Prathersvillemostly inland floodingModerate

Mosbymostly 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. Excelsior Springs covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Excelsior Springs’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Excelsior Springs. 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 Excelsior Springs total about $1.9M 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.