Natural hazards · Williamstown

Williamstown, KY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Williamstown comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Williamstown?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Williamstown to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes34%Inland flooding28%Strong wind12%Cold waves10%Lightning6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Williamstown faces

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

Tornadoes

34% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 44 years in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslides

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 Williamstown flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Grant County.

Disasters that hit Williamstown

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WilliamstownDeclared for Grant County only

2012

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Grant County has had 16 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. Williamstown 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 Williamstown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Williamstown. 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.