Natural hazards · West Plains

West Plains, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in West Plains comes from drought, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is West Plains?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in West Plains to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and wildfires.

Drought52%Wildfire16%Hail9%Tornadoes7%Cold waves6%Inland flooding6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What West Plains faces

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

Drought

52% of expected damage

Recorded about 100 times a year in the area

Wildfire

16% of expected damage

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

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 West Plains flood?

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

Disasters that hit West Plains

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into West PlainsDeclared for Meade County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$3K to the Township of West Plains for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$24K to the Township of West Plains for repairs

Meade County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around West Plains

West Plains and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

West Plainsmostly droughtHigh

Mertillamostly droughtHigh

Cimarronmostly droughtHigh

Meade Centermostly droughtHigh

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