Natural hazards · Whitewater

Whitewater, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Whitewater comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1985. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Whitewater?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Whitewater to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding39%Tornadoes19%Wildfire10%Hail9%Cold waves7%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Whitewater faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Whitewater flood?

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

2paid claims since 1985

$40Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19852026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Butler County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Whitewater

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WhitewaterDeclared for Butler County only

2005

Severe Winter Storms, Heavy Rains, and Flooding

$14K to the City of Whitewater for repairs

Butler County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Whitewater

Whitewater and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Whitewatermostly inland floodingHigh

Miltonmostly inland floodingHigh

Richlandmostly 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. Whitewater 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 Whitewater’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Whitewater. 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.