Natural hazards · Liberal

Liberal, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Liberal comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Liberal?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Liberal to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding40%Drought24%Tornadoes12%Cold waves9%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Liberal faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Drought

24% of expected damage

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Liberal flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Barton County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Liberal

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LiberalDeclared for Barton County only

2009

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

23 households applied for aid $16K aid approved $7K to the City of Liberal for repairs

Barton County has had 19 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. Liberal 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 Liberal’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Liberal. 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.

Liberal, MO natural hazards

How exposed is Liberal?

What Liberal faces

Inland flooding

Drought

Tornadoes

Cold waves

Strong wind

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Liberal flood?

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

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