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Natural hazards · Salem

Salem, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Salem comes from hail, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1980.

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

How exposed is Salem?

79
High
vs. U.S. communities

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

Hail37%Strong wind24%Drought20%Inland flooding10%Tornadoes5%Everything else4%
By hazard

What Salem faces

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

Hail

37% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

24% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

20% of expected damage
Recorded about 48 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

10% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% 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 Salem flood?

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

1paid claims since 1980
$1Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19802026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Salem isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Franklin County.
Disasters that hit Salem

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SalemDeclared for Franklin County only
Franklin County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Salem

Salem and the towns around it

Macon: High, mostly hailAntelope: High, mostly hailLincoln: High, mostly hailEast Bloomington: Very high, mostly hailAsh Grove: Very high, mostly hailMarion: Very high, mostly hailNorth Franklin: High, mostly hailSalem: High, mostly hail SalemMaconAntelopeLincoln
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Salemmostly hailHigh
Maconmostly hailHigh
Antelopemostly hailHigh
Lincolnmostly hailHigh
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. Salem covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Salem’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Salem. 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 Salem total about $4.5M 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.

The door’s open

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Salem, NEFranklin CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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