Natural hazards · Colby

Colby, KS natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Colby?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Colby to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding26%Tornadoes25%Hail15%Cold waves13%Strong wind8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Colby faces

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 7% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Hail

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Colby flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Thomas County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Colby

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ColbyDeclared for Thomas County only

Thomas County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

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. Colby covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Colby’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Colby. 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 Colby total about $2.8M 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.