Natural hazards · Seneca

Seneca, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Seneca comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Seneca?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Seneca to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding47%Hail15%Tornadoes9%Drought8%Cold waves8%Wildfire6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Seneca faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Hail

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 57 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Seneca flood?

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

Disasters that hit Seneca

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SenecaDeclared for Thomas County only

Thomas County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.

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. Seneca 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 Seneca’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Seneca. 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.