Natural hazards · Polo

Polo, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Polo 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 Polo?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Polo to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding49%Cold waves17%Tornadoes12%Drought6%Heat waves6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Polo faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Polo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Caldwell County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Polo

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PoloDeclared for Caldwell County only

Caldwell County has had 20 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. Polo 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 Polo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Polo. 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.