Hurricane Preparedness in Missouri
Missouri does not experience direct hurricanes -- it is landlocked with no Atlantic or Gulf coastline -- and this page states that plainly rather than offering hurricane-preparedness advice that does not apply here, redirecting instead to the real, current preparedness Missouri households actually need: tornado, river-flood, and (in the Bootheel) earthquake readiness.
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Hurricane preparedness is a genuinely important relocation topic in coastal and Gulf-adjacent Atlantic/Gulf states, which is why it's part of this project's standard state-topic list. For Missouri specifically, the honest and useful answer is that this topic largely does not apply -- Missouri movers do not need an Atlantic/Gulf hurricane evacuation or storm-surge plan.
What Missouri households should prepare for instead: tornado readiness
Missouri recorded 120 tornadoes in 2025, the 3rd-most of any US state that year, including a destructive May 16, 2025 EF3 tornado that struck the St. Louis area. A real tornado-preparedness plan -- a safe room or basement, a NOAA weather radio, a household emergency kit, and confirming your specific home's construction against high-wind exposure -- is genuinely more relevant to a Missouri household than any hurricane-specific preparation.
River-flood preparedness is a real, distinct consideration
For any property near the Mississippi, Missouri, or their tributaries, real flood preparedness -- flood insurance confirmation (standard homeowners policies generally exclude flood damage), an evacuation plan for rising water, and awareness of the specific property's flood-zone designation -- is directly relevant, especially given a real, dated, catastrophic July 10, 2026 flash flood in southeastern Missouri.
Bootheel/southeast Missouri households should prepare for New Madrid earthquake risk specifically
Households in the Bootheel/southeast region (Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Kennett, Dexter, Cape Girardeau) carry the state's most direct New Madrid Seismic Zone exposure -- USGS estimates a 28-46% chance of a magnitude 6.0+ earthquake within 40 years. Basic earthquake preparedness (securing heavy furniture, confirming earthquake insurance since standard homeowners policies generally exclude it, and knowing your home's specific construction) is a real, distinct consideration genuinely specific to this region rather than statewide.
Key takeaways
- Missouri does not experience direct Atlantic/Gulf-style hurricanes -- no hurricane-evacuation plan of that kind is needed here.
- Missouri's real, urgent preparedness need is tornado readiness: 120 tornadoes in 2025, the 3rd-most of any state, including a destructive May 2025 EF3 near St. Louis.
- River-flood preparedness (flood insurance, evacuation planning, flood-zone awareness) is directly relevant for any Mississippi/Missouri River-adjacent property.
- Bootheel/southeast Missouri households carry the state's most direct New Madrid earthquake exposure and should confirm separate earthquake coverage and preparedness specifically.
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