Natural hazards · Lake

Lake, MO natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lake?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding50%Drought26%Cold waves9%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Drought

26% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Vernon County.

Disasters that hit Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LakeDeclared for Vernon County only

Vernon County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Lake

Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lakemostly inland floodingHigh

Richlandmostly inland floodingHigh

Metzmostly inland floodingHigh

Deerfieldmostly inland floodingHigh

Washingtonmostly inland floodingLow

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