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Natural hazards · Ashfield

Ashfield, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ashfield comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2011. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Ashfield?

48
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ashfield to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Cold waves9%Hurricanes8%Everything else14%
By hazard

What Ashfield faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Ashfield flood?

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

2paid claims since 2011
$64Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20112026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Irene: 2 claims, $64K
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Ashfield isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Franklin County.
Disasters that hit Ashfield

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AshfieldDeclared for Franklin County only
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$17K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$6K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2011

Tropical Storm Irene

45 households applied for aid $52K aid approved $606K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$394K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$229K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $5K aid approved $97K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$14K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2003

Snow

$16K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
2001

Snow

$11K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
Franklin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Around Ashfield

Ashfield and the towns around it

Goshen: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPlainfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingConway: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCummington: Moderate, mostly inland floodingChesterfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWilliamsburg: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWindsor: Low, mostly inland floodingHawley: High, mostly inland floodingSavoy: Low, mostly inland floodingShelburne: High, mostly inland floodingDeerfield: Low, mostly inland floodingWhately: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBuckland: High, mostly inland floodingWorthington: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPeru: Low, mostly inland floodingAshfield: Moderate, mostly inland flooding AshfieldGoshenPlainfieldConwayCummington
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Goshenmostly inland floodingModerate
Plainfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
Cummingtonmostly inland floodingModerate
Ashfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
Conwaymostly inland floodingModerate
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. Ashfield covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ashfield’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Ashfield. 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 Ashfield total about $1.1M 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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