Natural hazards · Palmer

Palmer, NE natural hazards

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

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Palmer to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail35%Inland flooding28%Drought16%Strong wind10%Tornadoes8%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Palmer faces

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

Hail

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

16% of expected damage

Recorded about 59 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years 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 Palmer flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Merrick County.

Disasters that hit Palmer

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PalmerDeclared for Merrick County only

2006

Severe Winter Storms

$5K to the Village of Palmer for repairs

Merrick County has had 13 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. Palmer 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 Palmer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Palmer. 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.