Natural hazards · Phelps

Phelps, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Phelps comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Phelps?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Phelps to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding87%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Phelps faces

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

Inland flooding

87% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Phelps flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pike County.

Disasters that hit Phelps

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Phelps itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Phelps.

Brought FEMA money into PhelpsDeclared for Pike County only

2025

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

68 households applied for aid $415K aid approved

2022

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

30 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2009

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding and Mudslides

41 households applied for aid $34K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides

15 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mud and Rock Slides, and Tornadoes

9 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2003

Severe Winter Ice and Snow Storms, Heavy Rain, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Mud and

6 households applied for aid $15K aid approved

Pike County has had 43 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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