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. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and cold waves.

Drought29%Cold waves16%Hail16%Inland flooding12%Wildfire10%Tornadoes9%Everything else7%

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

29% of expected damage

Recorded about 75 times a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice 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.

Disasters that hit Seward

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SewardDeclared for Stafford County only

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

Stafford County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

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 City 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.