Editorial
Most disaster-prone counties in Iowa
Iowa has 1,910 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 99 counties. The dominant hazard type is severe storm. Clayton County leads with 27 declarations, followed by Des Moines County and Pottawattamie County.
This ranking shows every county in Iowa ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.
Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.
Iowa ranking
All counties by FEMA declaration count
| # | County | Declarations | Top hazard | First year | Latest year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayton County | 27 | Flood | 1965 | 2023 |
| 2 | Des Moines County | 27 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 3 | Pottawattamie County | 26 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 4 | Buchanan County | 25 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 5 | Butler County | 25 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 6 | Harrison County | 24 | Flood | 1965 | 2025 |
| 7 | Johnson County | 24 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 8 | Wright County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 9 | Cherokee County | 23 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 10 | Crawford County | 23 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2025 |
| 11 | Howard County | 23 | Severe Storm | 1968 | 2024 |
| 12 | Iowa County | 23 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 13 | Linn County | 23 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 14 | Palo Alto County | 23 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 15 | Allamakee County | 22 | Flood | 1965 | 2023 |
| 16 | Audubon County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2022 |
| 17 | Buena Vista County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 18 | Clinton County | 22 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 19 | Fayette County | 22 | Flood | 1968 | 2020 |
| 20 | Franklin County | 22 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 21 | Humboldt County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 22 | Jones County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1968 | 2020 |
| 23 | Lee County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2023 |
| 24 | Pocahontas County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 25 | Clay County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 26 | Dubuque County | 21 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 27 | Hamilton County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 28 | Jackson County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 29 | Muscatine County | 21 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 30 | Story County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 31 | Tama County | 21 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 32 | Union County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 33 | Winneshiek County | 21 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 34 | Black Hawk County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 35 | Dallas County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 36 | Floyd County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 37 | Ida County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 38 | Kossuth County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 39 | Louisa County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 40 | Madison County | 20 | Flood | 1972 | 2020 |
| 41 | Mahaska County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 42 | Marshall County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 43 | Mills County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 44 | Mitchell County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1974 | 2024 |
| 45 | Monona County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2025 |
| 46 | Montgomery County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 47 | Polk County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 48 | Ringgold County | 20 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 49 | Scott County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 50 | Shelby County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 51 | Wapello County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 52 | Webster County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2022 |
| 53 | Cass County | 19 | Flood | 1965 | 2022 |
| 54 | Chickasaw County | 19 | Flood | 1969 | 2020 |
| 55 | Emmet County | 19 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 56 | Fremont County | 19 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 57 | Greene County | 19 | Flood | 1969 | 2022 |
| 58 | Keokuk County | 19 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 59 | Marion County | 19 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 60 | Sac County | 19 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2022 |
| 61 | Benton County | 18 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 62 | Calhoun County | 18 | Severe Storm | 1979 | 2024 |
| 63 | Cedar County | 18 | Flood | 1974 | 2024 |
| 64 | Delaware County | 18 | Flood | 1968 | 2020 |
| 65 | Dickinson County | 18 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 66 | Hardin County | 18 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 67 | Jasper County | 18 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 68 | Woodbury County | 18 | Flood | 1965 | 2025 |
| 69 | Adair County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1972 | 2024 |
| 70 | Adams County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1972 | 2024 |
| 71 | Boone County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 72 | Bremer County | 17 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 73 | Davis County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2022 |
| 74 | Guthrie County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1974 | 2022 |
| 75 | Warren County | 17 | Flood | 1973 | 2020 |
| 76 | Appanoose County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1973 | 2022 |
| 77 | Carroll County | 16 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 78 | Clarke County | 16 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 79 | Henry County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2020 |
| 80 | Lyon County | 16 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 81 | Monroe County | 16 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 82 | Page County | 16 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 83 | Plymouth County | 16 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 84 | Van Buren County | 16 | Flood | 1965 | 2022 |
| 85 | Winnebago County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 86 | Worth County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 87 | Cerro Gordo County | 15 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |
| 88 | Grundy County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2020 |
| 89 | Hancock County | 15 | Flood | 1991 | 2024 |
| 90 | Lucas County | 15 | Flood | 1973 | 2020 |
| 91 | O'Brien County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 92 | Osceola County | 15 | Flood | 1965 | 2024 |
| 93 | Poweshiek County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 94 | Sioux County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2024 |
| 95 | Washington County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 96 | Wayne County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1973 | 2020 |
| 97 | Decatur County | 14 | Flood | 1969 | 2020 |
| 98 | Taylor County | 14 | Severe Storm | 1979 | 2020 |
| 99 | Jefferson County | 12 | Flood | 1965 | 2020 |