Natural hazards · Ulysses

Ulysses, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ulysses comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1981. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ulysses?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ulysses to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes25%Inland flooding24%Hail14%Cold waves13%Strong wind10%Lightning8%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Ulysses faces

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

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 74 years in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 8% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lightning

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

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 Ulysses flood?

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

1paid claims since 1981

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Ulysses

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into UlyssesDeclared for Grant County only

2021

Severe Storms and Straight Line Winds

$6K to the City of Ulysses for repairs

2017

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$107K to the City of Ulysses for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$17K to the City of Ulysses for repairs

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$5K to the City of Ulysses for repairs

Grant County has had 7 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. Ulysses covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ulysses’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Ulysses. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Ulysses total about $2.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.