Natural hazards · Ponca

Ponca, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ponca comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ponca?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ponca to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding39%Hail18%Tornadoes14%Drought12%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Ponca faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 30 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Ponca flood?

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

2paid claims since 1979

$33Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $30K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dixon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Ponca

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PoncaDeclared for Dixon County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$47K to the City of Ponca for repairs

2018

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$33K to the City of Ponca for repairs

2011

Flooding

20 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

Dixon County has had 15 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. Ponca 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 Ponca’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Ponca. 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.