Natural hazards · Harvard

Harvard, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harvard 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 Harvard?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harvard to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and strong winds.

Hail40%Strong wind24%Drought12%Inland flooding12%Tornadoes8%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Harvard faces

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

Hail

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

24% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 33 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% 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 Harvard flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Clay County.

Disasters that hit Harvard

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HarvardDeclared for Clay County only

2006

Severe Winter Storms

$5K to the City of Harvard for repairs

Clay County has had 17 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. Harvard 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 Harvard’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Harvard. 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.

Harvard, NE natural hazards

How exposed is Harvard?

What Harvard faces

Hail

Strong wind

Drought

Inland flooding

Tornadoes

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Harvard flood?

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Severe Winter Storms

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby