Natural hazards · Powell

Powell, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Powell comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Powell?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Powell to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and drought.

Wildfire44%Drought19%Cold waves15%Tornadoes7%Inland flooding7%Hail5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Powell faces

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

Wildfire

44% of expected damage

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

Drought

19% of expected damage

Recorded about 73 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Inland flooding

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Powell flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Comanche County.

Disasters that hit Powell

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PowellDeclared for Comanche County only

Comanche County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.

Around Powell

Powell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Powellmostly wildfiresVery high

Coldwatermostly wildfiresVery high

Sun Citymostly cold wavesVery high

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