Natural hazards · Brownlee

Brownlee, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brownlee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brownlee?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brownlee to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding37%Wildfire28%Cold waves15%Drought8%Tornadoes6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Brownlee faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Wildfire

28% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 71 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Brownlee flood?

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

Disasters that hit Brownlee

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrownleeDeclared for Cherry County only

Cherry County has had 9 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. Brownlee 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 Brownlee’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Brownlee. 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.