Natural hazards · Steele

Steele, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Steele comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1981. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Steele?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Steele to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and drought.

Earthquakes40%Drought17%Tornadoes14%Inland flooding10%Ice storms6%Heat waves5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Steele faces

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

Earthquakes

40% of expected damage

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

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

10% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Steele flood?

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

4paid claims since 1981

$18Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19812026

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pemiscot County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Steele

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SteeleDeclared for Pemiscot County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$129K to the City of Steele for repairs

2006

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

14 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Pemiscot 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. Steele 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 Steele’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Steele. 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.