Natural hazards · Seward

Seward, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Seward comes from drought, 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 Seward?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Seward to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought.

Drought62%Wildfire13%Cold waves7%Tornadoes6%Inland flooding5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Seward faces

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

Drought

62% of expected damage

Recorded about 123 times a year in the area

Wildfire

13% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Inland flooding

5% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Seward flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Seward County.

Disasters that hit Seward

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SewardDeclared for Seward County only

Seward County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Seward

Seward and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mertillamostly droughtHigh

Sewardmostly droughtHigh

Fargomostly droughtHigh

Lockportmostly droughtLow

Haskellmostly droughtLow

Dudleymostly droughtLow

Liberalmostly tornadoesLow

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