Natural hazards · Wickliffe

Wickliffe, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wickliffe comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 25 claims here since 1979. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wickliffe?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wickliffe to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and drought.

Earthquakes36%Drought19%Inland flooding16%Cold waves6%Strong wind6%Tornadoes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Wickliffe faces

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

Earthquakes

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Drought

19% of expected damage

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Wickliffe flood?

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

25paid claims since 1979

$124Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 2 claims, $50K

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. Wickliffe isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Ballard County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Wickliffe

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WickliffeDeclared for Ballard County only

2025

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

1 household applied for aid

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

17 households applied for aid $171K aid approved $126K to the City of Wickliffe for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$55K to the City of Wickliffe for repairs

2008

Severe Wind Storm Associated With Tropical Depression Ike

$12K to the City of Wickliffe for repairs

Ballard County has had 24 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. Wickliffe 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 Wickliffe’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wickliffe. 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.