Natural hazards · New Salem

New Salem, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in New Salem comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is New Salem?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in New Salem to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding30%Tornadoes23%Cold waves16%Wildfire11%Everything else21%

By hazard

What New Salem faces

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

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 New Salem flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cowley County.

Disasters that hit New Salem

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into New SalemDeclared for Cowley County only

Cowley County has had 24 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. New Salem 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 New Salem’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to New Salem. 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.