Natural hazards · Cherokee

Cherokee, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cherokee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2009.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cherokee?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cherokee to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding45%Drought18%Cold waves13%Tornadoes11%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Cherokee faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

18% of expected damage

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Cherokee flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Cherokee, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 2009

$15Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cherokee County.

Disasters that hit Cherokee

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CherokeeDeclared for Cherokee County only

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

Around Cherokee

Cherokee and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cherokeemostly inland floodingHigh

Mineralmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Cherokee covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Cherokee total about $3.4M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.