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Risk & Response

Des Moines County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 59.7 Relatively Moderate

38,487
Population
7
Departments
9
Stations
11
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
0.39
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
23rd highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
1.00
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
59th highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$12.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
20th highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$326
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
71st 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 Des Moines County, the largest single contributor is Heat Wave, 37% of the life-safety total.

Des Moines County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $12.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Des Moines County ranks 1292nd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1722nd for life safety per 100k residents, 1302nd for property loss, and 1655th 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 Des Moines 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 Des Moines County.

Talk to us about Des Moines County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

64%
27%
8%
Property (buildings): $12.6M (64.5%)
Life safety: $5.3M (27.2%)
Agriculture: $1.6M (8.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $19,484,909 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 8% of expected annual loss in Des Moines 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)

Heat Wave
$1.9M
Tornado
$996K
Strong Wind
$944K
Cold Wave
$525K
Lightning
$438K
Ice Storm
$98K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$8.3M
Hail
$1.7M
Tornado
$1.6M
Strong Wind
$521K
Earthquake
$314K
Ice Storm
$97K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Des Moines 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

14%
14%
43%
29%
Career: 14% (1)
Combination: 14% (1)
Volunteer: 43% (3)
Unreported: 29% (2)
Residents per Station
4,276
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
23.4
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 7 departments registered in NERIS Public for Des Moines 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 Des Moines 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 ▲
Burlington Fire Department 35,143 $4.8M Relatively Moderate 3
Denmark Fire Department 20,944 $2.6M Relatively High 1
Wever Fire And Rescue 11,503 $1.7M Relatively High 1
Mediapolis Fire Department 8,019 $1.2M Very High 1
Danville Fire Department 5,946 $855.2K Relatively High 1
West Burlington Fire Department 5,597 $798.0K Very High 1
Yarmouth Fire Department 3,376 $491.2K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

12.8%
Poverty Rate
21.3%
Age 65+
16.5%
Disability Rate
3.9%
Uninsured
75.4%
Pre-1980 Housing
4.5%
Mobile Homes
8.6%
Vacancy Rate
0.7%
Wood Heat
$64,904
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

6
Last 10 Years
17
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