Natural hazards · Iowa

Iowa, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Iowa comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Iowa?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Iowa to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves.

Cold waves55%Inland flooding12%Strong wind11%Hail8%Ice storms6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Iowa faces

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

Cold waves

55% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 23 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 8% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Iowa flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Benson County.

Disasters that hit Iowa

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Benson County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Iowa itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into IowaDeclared for Benson County only

Benson County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Iowa

Iowa and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Iowamostly cold wavesLow

Twin Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Pleasant Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Imparkmostly cold wavesLow

Reno Valleymostly cold wavesVery low

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