Natural hazards · Sterling

Sterling, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sterling comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2010. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sterling?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sterling to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding31%Tornadoes19%Cold waves13%Hail12%Wildfire7%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Sterling faces

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

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Wildfire

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Sterling flood?

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

4paid claims since 2010

$24Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20102026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rice County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Sterling

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SterlingDeclared for Rice County only

2021

Severe Storms and Straight Line Winds

$5K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides

$47K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2017

Severe Winter Storm

$21K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2013

Snowstorm

$4K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2009

Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

$18K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$8K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$55K to the City of Sterling for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

14 households applied for aid $85K aid approved

Rice County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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