Natural hazards · Valley

Valley, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Valley comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Valley?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Valley 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 Valley 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 Valley flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Valley.

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Valley 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.

Disasters that hit Valley

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Rice County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Valley itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ValleyDeclared for Rice County only

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

Around Valley

Valley and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Walnutmostly inland floodingHigh

Valleymostly inland floodingHigh

Bellmostly inland floodingHigh

Sterlingmostly inland floodingHigh

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