Natural hazards · Wood River

Wood River, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wood River 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 Wood River?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wood River to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding51%Drought14%Tornadoes13%Wildfire7%Hail6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Wood River faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 48 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Wood River flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Custer County.

Disasters that hit Wood River

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Wood RiverDeclared for Custer County only

Custer County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Wood River

Wood River and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Loupmostly inland floodingHigh

East Custermostly inland floodingHigh

Wood Rivermostly inland floodingHigh

Grantmostly inland floodingHigh

Custermostly inland floodingHigh

Delightmostly 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. Wood River 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 Wood River’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wood River. 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.