Natural hazards · Marion

Marion, KS natural hazards

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

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Marion to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding40%Drought15%Hail11%Cold waves10%Tornadoes8%Strong wind6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Marion 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

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

15% of expected damage

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Marion flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bourbon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Marion

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MarionDeclared for Bourbon County only

2009

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm

$31K to the Township of Marion for repairs

Bourbon County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Marion

Marion and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Franklinmostly inland floodingHigh

Mill Creekmostly inland floodingHigh

Marionmostly inland floodingHigh

Walnutmostly inland floodingHigh

Marmatonmostly inland floodingHigh

Elsmoremostly inland floodingModerate

Marmatonmostly 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. Marion 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 Marion’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Marion. 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.