Polk County, Iowa: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 620 records.
- The costliest single record is Tornado in 2022: $75.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Flash Flood in 1997, with 1 death.
- FEMA has declared 21 disasters that named this county, most often for flood.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1993, with 461 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 21 disasters that named Polk County between 1965 and 2026.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | 8 | 2019 |
| Severe Storm | 8 | 2026 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Hurricane | 1 | 2005 |
| Snowstorm | 1 | 1997 |
| Tornado | 1 | 2024 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4942 2026 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms And Flooding
- DR-4784 2024 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
- DR-4779 2024 · Tornado · Severe Storms And Tornadoes
- DR-4557 2020 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms
- DR-4483 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3480 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-4421 2019 · Flood · Severe Storms And Flooding
- DR-4386 2018 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding
- DR-1930 2010 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes
- DR-1763 2008 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Not counted above: 9 statewide declarations, which covered every county in Iowa. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 620 | 1 | 44 | $75.1M |
| Hail | 583 | 0 | 0 | $14.4M |
| Heavy Rain | 350 | 0 | 0 | $170K |
| Flood | 177 | 0 | 0 | $30.4M |
| Flash Flood | 118 | 3 | 4 | $17.9M |
| Lightning | 42 | 0 | 6 | $1.8M |
| High Wind | 39 | 0 | 3 | $2.6M |
| Tornado | 36 | 0 | 87 | $93.6M |
| Drought | 32 | 0 | 0 | $12.7M |
| Winter Storm | 31 | 1 | 0 | $830K |
| Heavy Snow | 27 | 0 | 0 | $3.9M |
| Funnel Cloud | 24 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Blizzard | 15 | 0 | 0 | $2.4M |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 11 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Ice Storm | 11 | 0 | 0 | $658K |
| Frost/Freeze | 9 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 8 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 3 | 0 | 0 | $135K |
| Heat | 3 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Weather | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Dust Devil | 2 | 0 | 5 | $10K |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone. A storm filed against a forecast zone is counted in every county that zone covers, with the whole storm's damage; do not add these figures across counties.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Polk County each year. The busiest year was 2008, with 160 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 32 | 0 | $551K |
| 1997 | 23 | 1 | $4.1M |
| 1998 | 69 | 0 | $84.1M |
| 1999 | 20 | 1 | $560K |
| 2000 | 43 | 0 | $619K |
| 2001 | 61 | 1 | $12.3M |
| 2002 | 45 | 0 | $3.8M |
| 2003 | 48 | 0 | $13.6M |
| 2004 | 68 | 0 | $1.0M |
| 2005 | 51 | 0 | $398K |
| 2006 | 52 | 1 | $349K |
| 2007 | 56 | 0 | $2.6M |
| 2008 | 160 | 0 | $18.5M |
| 2009 | 91 | 1 | $879K |
| 2010 | 115 | 1 | $8.0M |
| 2011 | 86 | 0 | $1.5M |
| 2012 | 64 | 0 | $2.7M |
| 2013 | 91 | 0 | $2.4M |
| 2014 | 121 | 1 | $1.4M |
| 2015 | 96 | 0 | $3.1M |
| 2016 | 72 | 1 | $350K |
| 2017 | 60 | 0 | $190K |
| 2018 | 138 | 1 | $9.2M |
| 2019 | 135 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 2020 | 78 | 0 | $10K |
| 2021 | 71 | 0 | $30K |
| 2022 | 61 | 0 | $75.4M |
| 2023 | 19 | 0 | $0 |
| 2024 | 79 | 0 | $7.5M |
| 2025 | 38 | 0 | $113K |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Tornado · Mar 5, 2022$75.0MNOAA name: Polk County · NOAA record 1007096
- Thunderstorm Wind · Jun 29, 1998$40.0MNOAA name: Polk County · 40 injuries · NOAA record 5652872
- Drought · Aug 1, 2003$12.7MNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 5329887
- Thunderstorm Wind · Jun 29, 1998$10.0MNOAA name: Polk County · NOAA record 5652871
- Tornado · Jun 29, 1998$10.0MNOAA name: Polk County · 83 injuries · NOAA record 5652999
Deadliest records
- Flash Flood · Feb 19, 19971 deathNOAA name: Polk County · $30K damage · NOAA record 5586136
- Winter Storm · Jan 1, 19991 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $10K damage · NOAA record 5679179
- Heat · Aug 5, 20011 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 5260764
- Heat · Jul 17, 20061 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 5516095
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill · Jan 16, 20091 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 141258
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $36.5M on 1,539 claims in Polk County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 461 | $8.1M |
| 1990 | 203 | $1.7M |
| 2010 | 167 | $3.5M |
| 2008 | 159 | $7.7M |
| 2018 | 145 | $10.1M |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Polk County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | 3 | 36 NCEI events over 31 years (1.16/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 1,245 NCEI events over 31 years (40.16/yr). 8 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 645 NCEI events over 31 years (20.81/yr). 8 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 87 NCEI events over 31 years (2.81/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 34 NCEI events over 31 years (1.10/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 32 NCEI events over 31 years (1.03/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 39 NCEI events over 31 years (1.26/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 2 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Polk County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events against a county and others against an NWS forecast zone, and publishes a code for both. Records are counted as Polk County by that code — county records by the county's own FIPS code, zone records through the National Weather Service's published list of which counties each zone covers. No name matching is involved. Of 2,144 records, 1,925 were filed against this county and 219 against a forecast zone covering it. A zone storm is counted in every county its zone covers, and its damage figure is the whole storm's, not this county's share — NOAA does not publish that split. So these figures describe this county; they must not be added up across counties.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.