Natural hazards · Cliff

Cliff, NE natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cliff?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cliff to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding51%Drought14%Tornadoes13%Wildfire7%Hail6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Cliff faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 48 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

7% of expected damage

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

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Cliff flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Custer County.

Disasters that hit Cliff

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CliffDeclared for Custer County only

Custer County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Cliff

Cliff and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cliffmostly inland floodingHigh

Triumphmostly inland floodingHigh

Arnoldmostly inland floodingHigh

Hayesmostly inland floodingHigh

Kilfoilmostly inland floodingModerate

Victoriamostly inland floodingModerate

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