Sylvia’s biggest natural hazard is wildfire
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sylvia comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Sylvia’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Sylvia flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Sylvia. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Sylvia isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Reno County.How exposed is Sylvia?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 1,845 of the 1,995 Kansas towns we cover.
Sylvia is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Sylvia faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
Inland flooding
Hail
Tornadoes
Strong wind
Cold waves
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Reno County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Sylvia itself in FEMA’s records.
Reno County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.
Get ready for what Sylvia actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- 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.
- 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.
Sylvia and its neighbors
Sylvia ranks 2nd calmest of 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in March–May
The month each of Reno County’s 21 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 Sylvia’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Sylvia.
- 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 Sylvia.
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. Weather alerts: National Weather Service. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.