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Risk & Response

Decatur County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 80.3 Very High

7,759
Population
7
Departments
7
Stations
3
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.17
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
63rd highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
2.23
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
19th highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$2.4M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
95th highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$314
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
76th highest of 99

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Decatur County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 35% of the life-safety total.

Decatur County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $2.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Decatur County ranks 2123rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 515th for life safety per 100k residents, 2844th for property loss, and 1748th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Decatur County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Decatur County.

Talk to us about Decatur County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

31%
30%
38%
Property (buildings): $2.4M (31.2%)
Life safety: $2.4M (30.4%)
Agriculture: $3.0M (38.5%)

Total expected annual loss: $7,812,708 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Agriculture is 38% of expected annual loss in Decatur County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Cold Wave
$829K
Heat Wave
$653K
Tornado
$601K
Strong Wind
$199K
Lightning
$49K
Hail
$17K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$1.5M
Tornado
$523K
Strong Wind
$188K
Hail
$92K
Wildfire
$44K
Ice Storm
$19K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Decatur County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

86%
14%
Volunteer: 86% (6)
Unreported: 14% (1)
Residents per Station
1,108
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
90.2
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 7 departments registered in NERIS Public for Decatur County, IA. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Decatur County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 7 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Lamoni Volunteer Fire Department 7,759 $2.4M Very High 1
Humeston Fire Department 3,712 $1.1M Very High 1
Leon Fire & Rescue Volunteer Department 3,048 $964.2K Relatively High 1
Weldon Fire Department 569 $203.6K Very High 1
Grand River Volunteer Fire Department 474 $136.1K Very High 1
Garden Grove Fire Department 387 $126.1K Very High 1
Van Wert Fire Department 385 $122.4K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

14.6%
Poverty Rate
21.1%
Age 65+
15.7%
Disability Rate
7.6%
Uninsured
63.2%
Pre-1980 Housing
7.5%
Mobile Homes
16.5%
Vacancy Rate
6.1%
Wood Heat
$58,880
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
10
Last 25 Years
Flood
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo