Natural hazards · Delaware

Delaware, DE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Delaware comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Delaware?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Delaware to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and coastal flooding.

Inland flooding60%Coastal flooding22%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Delaware faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Coastal flooding

22% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Delaware flood?

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

9paid claims since 1980

$47Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Floyd: 2 claims, $2K
Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $11K
Hurricane Sandy: 1 claim, $15K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 05% off flood insurance. Delaware is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: New Castle County.

Disasters that hit Delaware

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DelawareDeclared for New Castle County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

3 households applied for aid

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