Natural hazards · Prairie

Prairie, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Prairie comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high 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 Prairie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding56%Tornadoes10%Cold waves10%Strong wind7%Heat waves5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Prairie faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Prairie flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bates County.

Disasters that hit Prairie

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PrairieDeclared for Bates County only

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$21K to the Township of Prairie for repairs

Bates County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

Around Prairie

Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairiemostly inland floodingHigh

Pleasant Gapmostly inland floodingHigh

Rockvillemostly inland floodingHigh

Osagemostly inland floodingHigh

Blue Moundmostly inland floodingHigh

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