Natural hazards · Blades

Blades, DE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Blades comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2006. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Blades?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Blades to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves21%Hurricanes21%Coastal flooding6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Blades faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Coastal flooding

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Blades flood?

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

2paid claims since 2006

$17Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20062026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Sandy: 1 claim, $6K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sussex County.

Disasters that hit Blades

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BladesDeclared for Sussex County only

2012

Hurricane Sandy

$3K to the Town of Blades for repairs

2010

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms

$3K to the Town of Blades for repairs

2003

Snow

$875 to the Town of Blades for repairs

Sussex County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

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. Blades 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 Blades’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Blades. 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.