Natural hazards · Chester

Chester, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chester comes from hail, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chester?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Hail36%Inland flooding24%Strong wind17%Tornadoes11%Drought7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Chester faces

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

Hail

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 27 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Chester flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Thayer County.

Disasters that hit Chester

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChesterDeclared for Thayer County only

2003

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

$39K to the Village of Chester for repairs

Thayer County has had 22 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. Chester 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 Chester’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Chester. 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.

Chester, NE natural hazards

How exposed is Chester?

What Chester faces

Hail

Inland flooding

Strong wind

Tornadoes

Drought

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Chester flood?

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby