Natural hazards · Wathena

Wathena, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wathena comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wathena?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wathena to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding37%Tornadoes29%Cold waves10%Drought7%Hail6%Heat waves5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Wathena faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

29% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Wathena flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Doniphan County.

Disasters that hit Wathena

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WathenaDeclared for Doniphan County only

2019

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

$19K to the City of Wathena for repairs

2011

Flooding

$36K to the City of Wathena for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$9K to the City of Wathena for repairs

Doniphan County has had 18 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. Wathena 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 Wathena’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wathena. 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.