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Natural hazards · Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elizabethtown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 51 claims here since 1984. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Elizabethtown?

36
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elizabethtown to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding44%Tornadoes14%Earthquakes9%Cold waves9%Strong wind9%Hail6%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Elizabethtown faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Elizabethtown flood?

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

51paid claims since 1984
$1.1Mpaid to owners
8homes flooded more than once
19842026

Biggest named events

  • Mid-spring storms: 2 claims, $11K
  • Central U.S. April Flooding: 1 claim, $5K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Elizabethtown isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Hardin County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Elizabethtown

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElizabethtownDeclared for Hardin County only
2025

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

155 households applied for aid $1.0M aid approved
2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

30 households applied for aid $85K aid approved
2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Tornadoes

41 households applied for aid $235K aid approved
2009

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$782K to the City of Elizabethtown for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and

37 households applied for aid $43K aid approved $149K to the City of Elizabethtown for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides

3 households applied for aid $3K aid approved
2003

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

3 households applied for aid
Hardin County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown and the towns around it

Cecilia: Low, mostly inland floodingRadcliff: Low, mostly inland floodingVine Grove: High, mostly inland floodingFort Knox: Moderate, mostly inland floodingElizabethtown: Low, mostly inland flooding ElizabethtownCeciliaRadcliff
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Ceciliamostly inland floodingLow
Elizabethtownmostly inland floodingLow
Radcliffmostly inland floodingLow
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. Elizabethtown covers 6 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Elizabethtown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Elizabethtown. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Elizabethtown total about $9.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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