Natural hazards · Memphis

Memphis, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Memphis comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is 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 Memphis?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Memphis to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding37%Hail22%Tornadoes17%Strong wind10%Drought7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Memphis faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 22 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 Memphis flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Saunders County.

Disasters that hit Memphis

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MemphisDeclared for Saunders County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Saunders County has had 26 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. Memphis 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 Memphis’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Memphis. 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.