Natural hazards · Imperial

Imperial, NE natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Imperial to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail36%Inland flooding16%Cold waves14%Drought13%Tornadoes10%Strong wind7%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Imperial faces

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

Hail

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage

Recorded about 91 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Imperial flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chase County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Imperial

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ImperialDeclared for Chase County only

2006

Severe Winter Storms

$979 to the City of Imperial for repairs

Chase County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

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