Natural hazards · Kansas

Kansas, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kansas comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Kansas?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kansas to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding60%Tornadoes18%Cold waves7%Earthquakes6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Kansas faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Kansas flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Kansas.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Kansas isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Walker County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Kansas

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Kansas itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Kansas.

Brought FEMA money into KansasDeclared for Walker County only

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $228 aid approved

2002

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid $115 aid approved

Walker County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Kansas is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Kansas’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Kansas. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.