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Natural hazards · Wakarusa

Wakarusa, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wakarusa comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1996.

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

How exposed is Wakarusa?

34
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wakarusa to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding42%Tornadoes27%Cold waves7%Hail6%Strong wind5%Everything else14%
By hazard

What Wakarusa faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

27% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Cold waves

7% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places
Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Wakarusa flood?

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

2paid claims since 1996
$25Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19962026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Wakarusa isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Douglas County.
Disasters that hit Wakarusa

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WakarusaDeclared for Douglas County only
Douglas County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Wakarusa

Wakarusa and the towns around it

Lawrence: Low, mostly inland floodingGrant: Very high, mostly inland floodingRural: Low, mostly inland floodingEudora: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPalmyra: Low, mostly inland floodingClinton: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWillow Springs: Moderate, mostly inland floodingReno: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLecompton: Low, mostly inland floodingKanwaka: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSarcoxie: Low, mostly inland floodingOskaloosa: Low, mostly inland floodingKentucky: High, mostly inland floodingLexington: Low, mostly inland floodingSherman: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMcCamish: High, mostly inland floodingHayes: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFranklin: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMarion: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMonmouth: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTonganoxie: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTecumseh: Low, mostly inland floodingKaw: High, mostly inland floodingWakarusa: Low, mostly inland flooding WakarusaLawrenceGrantRuralEudoraPalmyraClintonWillow SpringsRenoLecompton
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Grantmostly inland floodingVery high
Eudoramostly inland floodingModerate
Clintonmostly inland floodingModerate
Willow Springsmostly inland floodingModerate
Renomostly inland floodingModerate
Ruralmostly inland floodingLow
Wakarusamostly inland floodingLow
Lawrencemostly inland floodingLow
Palmyramostly inland floodingLow
Lecomptonmostly inland floodingLow
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. Wakarusa covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wakarusa’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wakarusa. 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 Wakarusa total about $2.7M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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