Natural hazards · Wardell

Wardell, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wardell comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wardell?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wardell to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and drought.

Earthquakes50%Drought19%Tornadoes10%Inland flooding6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Wardell faces

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

Earthquakes

50% of expected damage

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

Drought

19% of expected damage

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% 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

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Wardell flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Wardell 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.

Disasters that hit Wardell

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WardellDeclared for Pemiscot County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$40K to the Town of Wardell for repairs

2006

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $545 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. Wardell 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 Wardell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Wardell. 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.