Natural hazards · Howells

Howells, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Howells comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 19 claims here since 1984. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Howells?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Howells to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding48%Hail18%Tornadoes13%Strong wind7%Drought6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Howells faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 35 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 Howells flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Howells, from FEMA’s records.

19paid claims since 1984

$465Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19842026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Colfax County.

Disasters that hit Howells

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HowellsDeclared for Colfax County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $167 aid approved

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

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