Natural hazards · Elba

Elba, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elba comes from hail, and overall the risk is 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 Elba?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elba to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail34%Inland flooding23%Drought16%Strong wind12%Tornadoes10%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Elba faces

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

Hail

34% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

16% of expected damage

Recorded about 33 times a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 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 4 years 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 Elba flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Howard County.

Disasters that hit Elba

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElbaDeclared for Howard County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

9 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

2006

Severe Winter Storms

$3K to the Village of Elba for repairs

Howard County has had 21 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. Elba 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 Elba’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Elba. 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.