Natural hazards · Lake Lafayette

Lake Lafayette, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lake Lafayette comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lake Lafayette?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake Lafayette to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves39%Inland flooding29%Tornadoes13%Heat waves8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Lake Lafayette faces

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

Cold waves

39% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 31 years in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Lake Lafayette flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lafayette County.

Disasters that hit Lake Lafayette

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Lake LafayetteDeclared for Lafayette County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$3K to the City of Lake Lafayette for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$7K to the City of Lake Lafayette for repairs

Lafayette 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. Lake Lafayette 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 Lake Lafayette’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Lake Lafayette. 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.