Natural hazards · St. Joseph

St. Joseph, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Joseph comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 147 claims here since 1978. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Joseph?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Joseph to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding35%Tornadoes22%Cold waves18%Heat waves10%Hail5%Strong wind5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What St. Joseph faces

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

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 St. Joseph flood?

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

147paid claims since 1978

$7.4Mpaid to owners

19homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Midwest Flooding: 26 claims, $473K
Late spring storms: 21 claims, $2.5M

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Buchanan County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

13storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit St. Joseph

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into St. JosephDeclared for Buchanan County only

2021

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

$231K to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

29 households applied for aid $52K aid approved $370K to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$482K to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2015

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

$112K to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2011

Flooding

47 households applied for aid $93K aid approved $1.3M to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$54K to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$169K to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$1.2M to the City of St. Joseph for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

46 households applied for aid $75K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Buchanan County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around St. Joseph

St. Joseph and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Washingtonmostly inland floodingModerate

St. Josephmostly 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. St. Joseph covers 21 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to St. Joseph’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of St. Joseph. 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 St. Joseph total about $25.7M 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.