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Natural hazards · Ashby

Ashby, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ashby comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 12 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Ashby?

9
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ashby to be higher than in 9% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding62%Hurricanes8%Cold waves8%Tornadoes5%Everything else17%
By hazard

What Ashby faces

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

Inland flooding

62% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Ashby flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Ashby isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Middlesex County.
Disasters that hit Ashby

12 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AshbyDeclared for Middlesex County only
2018

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$15K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2015

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$15K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$22K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$8K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2011

Hurricane Irene

$12K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$12K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $10K aid approved $110K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$571K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$13K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2004

Flooding

3 households applied for aid $2K aid approved
2003

Snow

$24K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
2001

Snow

$11K to the Town of Ashby for repairs
Middlesex County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Around Ashby

Ashby and the towns around it

Ashburnham: Low, mostly inland floodingFitchburg: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTownsend: Low, mostly inland floodingLunenburg: Very low, mostly inland floodingWestminster: Very low, mostly inland floodingGardner: Very low, mostly inland floodingWinchendon: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLeominster: Low, mostly inland floodingPepperell: Low, mostly inland floodingBrookline: Moderate, mostly inland floodingShirley: Very low, mostly inland floodingAshby: Very low, mostly inland flooding AshbyAshburnhamFitchburgTownsendLunenburg
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Fitchburgmostly inland floodingModerate
Townsendmostly inland floodingLow
Ashburnhammostly inland floodingLow
Lunenburgmostly inland floodingVery low
Ashbymostly inland floodingVery low
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. Ashby covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ashby’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Ashby. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Ashby total about $330K a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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