Natural hazards · Cawood

Cawood, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cawood comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cawood?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cawood to be higher than in 94% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding73%Strong wind8%Cold waves8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Cawood faces

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

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningAvalanches

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 Cawood flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Harlan County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

10flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Cawood

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CawoodDeclared for Harlan County only

2025

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

14 households applied for aid $95K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides

10 households applied for aid $27K aid approved

2003

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

13 households applied for aid $26K aid approved

Harlan County has had 30 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. Cawood 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 Cawood’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cawood. 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.