Natural hazards · Benton

Benton, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Benton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Benton?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Benton to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding40%Tornadoes17%Drought12%Hail7%Wildfire6%Strong wind5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Benton faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Benton flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Atchison County.

Disasters that hit Benton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BentonDeclared for Atchison County only

Atchison County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Benton

Benton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Nortonmostly inland floodingModerate

Bentonmostly inland floodingModerate

Kapiomamostly inland floodingModerate

Centermostly inland floodingModerate

Grasshoppermostly inland floodingModerate

Lancastermostly inland floodingModerate

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