Sinkhole risk in Cloud County, KS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 22%
At or near the surface: 22%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Cloud County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 160 of Cloud County's 715 square miles on soluble rock, 160 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 8,723 residents (12 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 400 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Cloud County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Dickinson County, KS, about 50 miles southeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Republic County, KS 24 mi north · 19% at surface
Ottawa County, KS 24 mi south · 4% at surface
Clay County, KS 27 mi east · 35% at surface
Mitchell County, KS 31 mi west · 38% at surface
Washington County, KS 35 mi northeast · 15% at surface
Jewell County, KS 37 mi northwest · 32% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Greenhorn Limestone and Graneros Shale (limestone), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 22% of the county.

Against the rest of Kansas

Cloud County ranks 53 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.