Natural hazards · Isabel

Isabel, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Isabel comes from cold waves, 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 Isabel?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Isabel to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and wildfires.

Cold waves42%Wildfire19%Inland flooding13%Drought10%Tornadoes8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Isabel faces

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

Cold waves

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

19% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 52 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Isabel flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Barber County.

Disasters that hit Isabel

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into IsabelDeclared for Barber County only

2005

Severe Winter Storms, Heavy Rains, and Flooding

$9K to the City of Isabel for repairs

Barber County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.

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