Natural hazards · McCook

McCook, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in McCook comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1980.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is McCook?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding25%Tornadoes22%Hail18%Cold waves14%Strong wind5%Everything else16%

By hazard

What McCook faces

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

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 13% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 59 years in the area

Hail

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 McCook flood?

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

4paid claims since 1980

$28Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Red Willow County.

Disasters that hit McCook

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Red Willow County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching McCook itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into McCookDeclared for Red Willow County only

Red Willow County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.

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