Natural hazards · Blackey

Blackey, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Blackey comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Blackey?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Blackey to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding90%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Blackey faces

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

Inland flooding

90% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Blackey flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Letcher County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Blackey

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BlackeyDeclared for Letcher County only

2025

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

21 households applied for aid $132K aid approved

2022

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

86 households applied for aid $802K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides

16 households applied for aid $26K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mud and Rock Slides, and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid

2003

Severe Winter Ice and Snow Storms, Heavy Rain, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Mud and

3 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

Letcher County has had 36 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. Blackey 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 Blackey’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Blackey. 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.