Odessa’s biggest natural hazard is hail
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Odessa comes from hail, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Odessa’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Odessa flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Odessa. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
How exposed is Odessa?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 1,510 of the 1,995 Kansas towns we cover.
Odessa is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Odessa faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Hail
Inland flooding
Strong wind
Tornadoes
Drought
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Jewell County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Odessa itself in FEMA’s records.
Jewell County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.
Get ready for what Odessa actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Odessa and its neighbors
Odessa ranks 2nd calmest of 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in May–June
The month each of Jewell County’s 14 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Odessa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Odessa.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Odessa.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.