Natural hazards · Wendell

Wendell, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wendell comes from drought, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wendell?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wendell to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and hail.

Drought37%Hail29%Inland flooding16%Tornadoes10%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Wendell faces

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

Drought

37% of expected damage

Recorded about 84 times a year in the area

Hail

29% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Wendell flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Thomas County.

Disasters that hit Wendell

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WendellDeclared for Thomas County only

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$22K to the Township of Wendell for repairs

Thomas County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Wendell

Wendell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jeffersonmostly inland floodingLow

Herlmostly inland floodingLow

Wendellmostly droughtLow

Smithmostly droughtLow

Laceymostly droughtLow

Rovohlmostly droughtLow

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