Cave City’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cave City comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Cave City’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Cave City flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cave City. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cave City isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Barren County.How exposed is Cave City?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.
Calmer than 395 of the 553 Kentucky towns we cover.
Cave City is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Cave City faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Cold waves
Strong wind
Hail
6 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Cave City
Disasters that paid out in Cave City itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Cave City) and its biggest flood years.
- 2025Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides1 household applied for aid$7K aid approved
- 2025Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides1 household applied for aid
- 2021Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Tornadoes71 households applied for aid$94K aid approved$74K to the City of Cave City for repairs
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Tornadoes3 households applied for aid$9K aid approved
- 2009Severe Winter Storm and Flooding$52K to the City of Cave City for repairs
- 2004Severe Storms and Flooding$23K to the City of Cave City for repairs
Barren County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.
Old photos of Cave City after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Cave City archive →Get ready for what Cave City actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in January–March
The month each of Barren County’s 17 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Cave City’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Cave City.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cave City.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.