Natural hazards · Dexter

Dexter, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dexter comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dexter?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dexter to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding31%Wildfire22%Tornadoes18%Cold waves12%Hail6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Dexter faces

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

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

22% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Dexter flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cowley County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Dexter

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DexterDeclared for Cowley County only

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $1K aid approved $17K to the City of Dexter for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$3K to the City of Dexter for repairs

Cowley County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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