Natural hazards · Kiowa

Kiowa, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kiowa comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Kiowa?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kiowa to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and drought.

Cold waves36%Drought26%Wildfire12%Inland flooding8%Tornadoes7%Hail7%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Kiowa faces

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

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

26% of expected damage

Recorded about 64 times a year in the area

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce 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 Kiowa flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Kiowa 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Kiowa

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into KiowaDeclared for Barber County only

2025

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

$59K to the City of Kiowa for repairs

2013

Snowstorm

$788 to the City of Kiowa for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes

$5K to the City of Kiowa for repairs

2005

Severe Winter Storms, Heavy Rains, and Flooding

$20K to the City of Kiowa for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$5K to the City of Kiowa 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. Kiowa 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 Kiowa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Kiowa. 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.