Natural hazards · Slaughter Beach

Slaughter Beach, DE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Slaughter Beach comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 1984. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Slaughter Beach?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Slaughter Beach to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and coastal flooding.

Inland flooding37%Coastal flooding23%Hurricanes18%Cold waves11%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Slaughter Beach faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Coastal flooding

23% of expected damage

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

Hurricanes

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

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 Slaughter Beach flood?

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

12paid claims since 1984

$57Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19842026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Sandy: 2 claims, $4K

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

No community discount. Slaughter Beach 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

9homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Slaughter Beach

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Slaughter BeachDeclared for Sussex County only

2016

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$10K to the Town of Slaughter Beach 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. Slaughter Beach 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 Slaughter Beach’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Slaughter Beach. 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.