Natural hazards · McDonald

McDonald, KS natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in McDonald to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding32%Drought20%Hail19%Tornadoes15%Everything else14%

By hazard

What McDonald faces

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

20% of expected damage

Recorded about 94 times a year in the area

Hail

19% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 McDonald flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rawlins County.

Disasters that hit McDonald

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into McDonaldDeclared for Rawlins County only

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$4K to the City of McDonald for repairs

Rawlins County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

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