Natural hazards · Dagsboro

Dagsboro, DE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dagsboro comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1998. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dagsboro?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dagsboro to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes43%Inland flooding33%Cold waves14%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Dagsboro faces

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

Hurricanes

43% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce 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 Dagsboro flood?

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

5paid claims since 1998

$35Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19982026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Dagsboro 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Dagsboro

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DagsboroDeclared for Sussex County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

2 households applied for aid $383 aid approved

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