Natural hazards · Elk Falls

Elk Falls, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elk Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elk Falls?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elk Falls to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding37%Wildfire30%Tornadoes13%Everything else21%

By hazard

What Elk Falls 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

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

30% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Elk Falls flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Elk County.

Disasters that hit Elk Falls

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Elk FallsDeclared for Elk County only

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $25K aid approved $2K to the City of Elk Falls for repairs

Elk County has had 18 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. Elk Falls 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 Elk Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Elk Falls. 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.