Natural hazards · Seneca

Seneca, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Seneca comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2019. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Seneca?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Seneca to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding43%Tornadoes28%Heat waves6%Wildfire6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Seneca faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

28% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Seneca flood?

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

1paid claims since 2019

$26Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20192026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Nemaha County.

Disasters that hit Seneca

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Seneca itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Seneca.

Brought FEMA money into SenecaDeclared for Nemaha County only

2021

Severe Storms and Straight Line Winds

$31K to the City of Seneca for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$49K to the City of Seneca for repairs

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

Around Seneca

Seneca and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mitchellmostly inland floodingModerate

Senecamostly inland floodingLow

Richmondmostly inland floodingLow

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