Natural hazards · Omaha

Omaha, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Omaha comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 1982.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Omaha?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Omaha to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding29%Tornadoes16%Drought14%Hail12%Heat waves10%Wildfire8%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Omaha faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 44 times a year in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Wildfire

8% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Omaha flood?

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

9paid claims since 1982

$552Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $42K

Disasters that hit Omaha

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into OmahaDeclared for Thurston County only

Thurston County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Omaha

Omaha and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Winnebagomostly inland floodingHigh

Merrymostly inland floodingHigh

Omahamostly inland floodingHigh

Blackbirdmostly inland floodingHigh

Dawesmostly inland floodingHigh

Bryanmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Omaha covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Omaha’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Omaha. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Omaha total about $4.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.