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Natural hazards · Ayer

Ayer, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ayer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1987. 14 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Ayer?

8
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ayer to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding59%Earthquakes13%Hurricanes12%Everything else16%
By hazard

What Ayer faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

12% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Ayer flood?

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

3paid claims since 1987
$12Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19872026

Biggest named events

  • April 2007 Nor'easter: 1 claim, $3K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Ayer 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 Ayer

14 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AyerDeclared for Middlesex County only
2018

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$57K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2015

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$70K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$31K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$6K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2011

Hurricane Irene

$2K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$27K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

20 households applied for aid $26K aid approved $119K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$21K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $3K aid approved
2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $589 aid approved
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$35K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2004

Flooding

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved
2003

Snow

$54K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
2001

Snow

$23K to the Town of Ayer for repairs
Middlesex County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Around Ayer

Ayer and the towns around it

Shirley: Very low, mostly inland floodingLittleton: Very low, mostly inland floodingGroton: Very low, mostly inland floodingHarvard: Very low, mostly inland floodingLunenburg: Very low, mostly inland floodingBoxborough: Very low, mostly inland floodingWestford: Very low, mostly inland floodingActon: Very low, mostly inland floodingPepperell: Low, mostly inland floodingDunstable: Very low, mostly inland floodingTyngsborough: Low, mostly inland floodingLancaster: Low, mostly inland floodingBolton: Low, mostly inland floodingAyer: Very low, mostly inland flooding AyerShirleyLittletonGrotonHarvard
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Grotonmostly inland floodingVery low
Shirleymostly inland floodingVery low
Harvardmostly inland floodingVery low
Littletonmostly inland floodingVery low
Ayermostly 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. Ayer covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ayer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Ayer. 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 Ayer total about $1.7M 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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