Natural hazards · Elsmere

Elsmere, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elsmere comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elsmere?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elsmere to be higher than in 24% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes29%Inland flooding28%Cold waves18%Strong wind11%Heat waves5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Elsmere faces

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

Tornadoes

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Elsmere flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kenton County.

Disasters that hit Elsmere

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Kenton County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Elsmere itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ElsmereDeclared for Kenton County only

Kenton County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Elsmere

Elsmere and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elsmeremostly tornadoesLow

Independencemostly inland floodingLow

Erlangermostly 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. Elsmere covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Elsmere’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Elsmere. 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 Elsmere total about $2.5M 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.