Natural hazards · Sparta

Sparta, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sparta comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sparta?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sparta to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding63%Tornadoes16%Strong wind13%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Sparta faces

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

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 26 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Sparta flood?

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

6paid claims since 1979

$69Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Heavy rains: 1 claim, $23K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Gallatin County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Sparta

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SpartaDeclared for Gallatin County only

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