Natural hazards · Prairie

Prairie, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Prairie comes from hail, 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 Prairie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Hail43%Inland flooding19%Strong wind12%Tornadoes9%Drought8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Prairie faces

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

Hail

43% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 34 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Prairie flood?

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

Disasters that hit Prairie

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PrairieDeclared for Jewell County only

Jewell County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

Around Prairie

Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairiemostly hailHigh

Browns Creekmostly hailHigh

Allenmostly hailHigh

Solomon Rapidsmostly hailHigh

Plum Creekmostly hailHigh

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