Natural hazards · Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Vernon comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Vernon?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Vernon to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding48%Tornadoes15%Cold waves13%Strong wind8%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Mount Vernon faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Mount Vernon flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rockcastle County.

Disasters that hit Mount Vernon

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mount VernonDeclared for Rockcastle County only

2021

Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

29 households applied for aid $121K aid approved

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Tornadoes

71 households applied for aid $149K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid

Rockcastle County has had 30 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. Mount Vernon 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 Mount Vernon’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mount Vernon. 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.