Natural hazards · Lowell

Lowell, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lowell comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 24 claims here since 1993.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lowell?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lowell to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding48%Tornadoes20%Cold waves6%Strong wind6%Heat waves5%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Lowell faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Lowell flood?

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

24paid claims since 1993

$797Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19932026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cherokee County.

Disasters that hit Lowell

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Cherokee County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lowell itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into LowellDeclared for Cherokee County only

Cherokee County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Lowell

Lowell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lowellmostly inland floodingHigh

Shawneemostly inland floodingHigh

Gardenmostly inland floodingHigh

Galenamostly 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. Lowell covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lowell’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Lowell. 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 Lowell total about $2.6M 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.