Natural hazards · Liberty

Liberty, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Liberty comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1991.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Liberty?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Liberty to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes.

Earthquakes52%Inland flooding15%Tornadoes10%Cold waves8%Heat waves7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Liberty faces

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

Earthquakes

52% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 39 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Liberty flood?

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

5paid claims since 1991

$93Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19912026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $10K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stoddard County.

Disasters that hit Liberty

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LibertyDeclared for Stoddard County only

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

Around Liberty

Liberty and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elkmostly earthquakesVery high

Cotton Hillmostly earthquakesVery high

Libertymostly earthquakesVery high

Duck Creekmostly earthquakesVery high

Castormostly earthquakesVery high

Unionmostly earthquakesVery high

Richlandmostly earthquakesVery high

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. Liberty covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Liberty’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Liberty. 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 Liberty total about $11.3M 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.