Natural hazards · Appleton

Appleton, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Appleton comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Appleton?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Appleton to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and drought.

Wildfire27%Drought27%Cold waves12%Tornadoes10%Hail9%Inland flooding8%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Appleton faces

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

Wildfire

27% of expected damage

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

Drought

27% of expected damage

Recorded about 79 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 6% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Appleton flood?

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

Disasters that hit Appleton

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Clark County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Appleton itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into AppletonDeclared for Clark County only

Clark County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Appleton

Appleton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Appletonmostly wildfiresHigh

Englewoodmostly wildfiresHigh

Lexingtonmostly wildfiresHigh

Bloommostly droughtModerate

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. Appleton 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 Appleton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Appleton. 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.