Natural hazards · Riverside

Riverside, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Riverside comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 68 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Riverside?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Riverside to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding47%Tornadoes18%Cold waves12%Heat waves9%Hail5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Riverside faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Riverside flood?

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

68paid claims since 1979

$7.4Mpaid to owners

3homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Midwest Flooding: 50 claims, $7.1M
Not a named storm: 8 claims, $67K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Platte County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Riverside

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RiversideDeclared for Platte County only

2015

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

$13K to the City of Riverside for repairs

2011

Flooding

$23K to the City of Riverside for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$35K to the City of Riverside for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

54 households applied for aid $59K aid approved $143K to the City of Riverside for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$19K to the City of Riverside for repairs

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

Around Riverside

Riverside and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Riversidemostly inland floodingModerate

Northmoormostly inland floodingModerate

Kansas Citymostly inland floodingLow

Parkvillemostly inland floodingLow

Kansas Citymostly 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. Riverside covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Riverside’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Riverside. 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 Riverside total about $1.8M 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.