Shallow Water’s biggest natural hazard is hail
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shallow Water comes from hail, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Shallow Water’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Shallow Water?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 35% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and drought.
Calmer than 1,860 of the 1,995 Kansas towns we cover.
Shallow Water is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Does Shallow Water flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Shallow Water. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Shallow Water isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Scott County.What Shallow Water faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Hail
Drought
Cold waves
Inland flooding
Strong wind
Tornadoes
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Scott County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Shallow Water itself in FEMA’s records.
Scott County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.
Get ready for what Shallow Water actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in April–June
The month each of Scott County’s 8 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Shallow Water’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Shallow Water.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Shallow Water.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.