Natural hazards · Bellefonte

Bellefonte, DE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bellefonte comes from inland flooding, 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 Bellefonte?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bellefonte to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves12%Heat waves8%Earthquakes7%Tornadoes6%Hurricanes5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Bellefonte faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Bellefonte flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: New Castle County.

Disasters that hit Bellefonte

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BellefonteDeclared for New Castle County only

2003

Snow

$7K to the Town of Bellefonte for repairs

New Castle County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes 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. Bellefonte 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 Bellefonte’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Bellefonte. 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.