Natural hazards · Hays

Hays, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hays comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 47 claims here since 1980. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hays?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hays to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding32%Tornadoes19%Cold waves15%Strong wind11%Hail9%Lightning6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Hays faces

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

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 Hays flood?

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

47paid claims since 1980

$204Kpaid to owners

6homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Midwest Flooding: 2 claims, $5K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 05% off flood insurance. Hays is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Ellis County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Hays

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HaysDeclared for Ellis County only

2013

Snowstorm

$23K to the City of Hays for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$26K to the City of Hays for repairs

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$13K to the City of Hays for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$25K to the City of Hays for repairs

Ellis County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Hays

Hays and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Big Creekmostly inland floodingModerate

Haysmostly 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. Hays covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hays’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Hays. 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 Hays total about $6.3M 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.