Buffalo’s biggest natural hazard is hail
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo comes from hail, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Buffalo’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Buffalo flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Buffalo. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Buffalo isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Barton County.How exposed is Buffalo?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.
Calmer than 1,513 of the 1,995 Kansas towns we cover.
Buffalo is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Buffalo faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Hail
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Strong wind
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Barton County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Buffalo itself in FEMA’s records.
Barton County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Get ready for what Buffalo actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Buffalo and its neighbors
Buffalo ranks 4th calmest of 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | Moderate | hail | 0 |
| Eureka | Moderate | hail | 6 |
| Clarence | Moderate | hail | 0 |
| Great Bend | Low | tornadoes | 396 |
| Great Bend | Low | tornadoes | 0 |
| Liberty | Low | tornadoes | 0 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in May–July
The month each of Barton County’s 25 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Buffalo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Buffalo.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Buffalo.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.