Natural hazards · Lancaster

Lancaster, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lancaster comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Lancaster?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lancaster to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding40%Tornadoes17%Drought12%Hail7%Wildfire6%Strong wind5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Lancaster faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Lancaster flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Atchison County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Lancaster

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LancasterDeclared for Atchison County only

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$10K to the City of Lancaster for repairs

Atchison County has had 16 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. Lancaster 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 Lancaster’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Lancaster. 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.