Natural hazards · Ludlow

Ludlow, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ludlow comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 49 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ludlow?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ludlow to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding57%Tornadoes18%Cold waves11%Strong wind7%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Ludlow faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Ludlow flood?

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

49paid claims since 1978

$589Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 6 claims, $3K
Central U.S. April Flooding: 3 claims, $71K

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. Ludlow 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Ludlow

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LudlowDeclared for Kenton County only

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

Around Ludlow

Ludlow and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Covingtonmostly inland floodingHigh

Ludlowmostly inland floodingHigh

Bromleymostly inland floodingHigh

Cincinnatimostly 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. Ludlow 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 Ludlow’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Ludlow. 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.