Natural hazards · Melbourne

Melbourne, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Melbourne comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Melbourne?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Melbourne to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding59%Tornadoes18%Cold waves10%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Melbourne faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Melbourne flood?

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

49paid claims since 1978

$838Kpaid to owners

5homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 7 claims, $8K
Central U.S. April Flooding: 2 claims, $76K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 10% off flood insurance. Melbourne is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 8) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Campbell County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

19flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Melbourne

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MelbourneDeclared for Campbell County only

Campbell County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

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