Natural hazards · Forest Hills

Forest Hills, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forest Hills comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Forest Hills?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding51%Tornadoes32%Earthquakes8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Forest Hills faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

32% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Forest Hills flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jefferson County.

Disasters that hit Forest Hills

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Forest HillsDeclared for Jefferson County only

2025

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

16 households applied for aid $38K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides

10 households applied for aid $15K aid approved

Jefferson County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Forest Hills

Forest Hills and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hurstbourne Acresmostly inland floodingModerate

Jeffersontownmostly inland floodingLow

Forest Hillsmostly 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. Forest Hills 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 Forest Hills’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Forest Hills. 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.