Natural hazards · Ionia

Ionia, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ionia comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ionia?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ionia to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and strong winds.

Inland flooding27%Strong wind20%Drought17%Tornadoes13%Cold waves9%Heat waves5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Ionia 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

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Ionia flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Benton County.

Disasters that hit Ionia

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into IoniaDeclared for Benton County only

2006

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Benton County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

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