Natural hazards · Pawnee

Pawnee, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pawnee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2015.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pawnee?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pawnee 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 Pawnee 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 Pawnee flood?

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

1paid claims since 2015

$9Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20152026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Pawnee 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.

Disasters that hit Pawnee

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PawneeDeclared for Bourbon County only

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

Around Pawnee

Pawnee and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pawneemostly inland floodingHigh

Marmatonmostly inland floodingHigh

Walnutmostly inland floodingHigh

Drywoodmostly inland floodingHigh

Shermanmostly droughtHigh

Lincolnmostly 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. Pawnee covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pawnee’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Pawnee. 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 Pawnee total about $1.9M 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.