Natural hazards · Falls

Falls, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Falls comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Falls?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Falls to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes30%Inland flooding28%Heat waves12%Cold waves10%Strong wind6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Falls faces

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

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Falls flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Richardson County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Falls

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FallsDeclared for Richardson County only

2021

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

$174K to the City of Falls for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2011

Flooding

6 households applied for aid $4K aid approved $70K to the City of Falls for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Ice Jams, and Flooding

$27K to the City of Falls for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid

2007

Severe Winter Storm

$388K to the City of Falls for repairs

Richardson County has had 20 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. Falls 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 Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Falls. 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.