Natural hazards · Southbury

Southbury, CT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Southbury comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 103 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Southbury?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Southbury to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding69%Hurricanes20%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Southbury faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Southbury flood?

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

103paid claims since 1978

$2.0Mpaid to owners

19homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irene: 21 claims, $405K
Not a named storm: 9 claims, $27K
Hurricane Floyd: 2 claims, $7K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (8) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: .

What’s been done with FEMA grants

10flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Around Southbury

Southbury and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Woodburymostly inland floodingHigh

Roxburymostly inland floodingHigh

Southburymostly inland floodingModerate

Bridgewatermostly inland floodingModerate

Oxfordmostly inland floodingModerate

Newtownmostly inland floodingModerate

Middleburymostly inland floodingModerate

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. Southbury covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Southbury’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Southbury. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Southbury total about $7.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.