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Natural hazards · Columbus

Columbus, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Columbus comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1982. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Columbus?

46
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Columbus to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding37%Tornadoes23%Strong wind7%Drought6%Cold waves6%Heat waves6%Everything else14%
By hazard

What Columbus faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 31 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage
Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Columbus flood?

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

3paid claims since 1982
$22Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19822026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Columbus 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built
Disasters that hit Columbus

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Columbus itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Columbus.

Brought FEMA money into ColumbusDeclared for Cherokee County only
2009

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm

$2K to the City of Columbus for repairs
2009

Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

$49K to the City of Columbus for repairs
2007

Severe Winter Storms

$157K to the City of Columbus for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $60K aid approved $2K to the City of Columbus for repairs
2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

$8K to the City of Columbus for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$34K to the City of Columbus for repairs
2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

18 households applied for aid $73K aid approved
Cherokee County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Columbus

Columbus and the towns around it

Salamanca: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCrawford: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLyon: High, mostly inland floodingLola: High, mostly inland floodingRoss: High, mostly inland floodingSpring Valley: High, mostly inland floodingShawnee: High, mostly inland floodingMineral: High, mostly inland floodingColumbus: Moderate, mostly inland flooding ColumbusSalamancaCrawford
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Columbusmostly inland floodingModerate
Salamancamostly inland floodingModerate
Crawfordmostly 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. Columbus covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Columbus’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Columbus. 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 Columbus total about $2.3M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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