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Natural hazards · Dunstable

Dunstable, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dunstable comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 11 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Dunstable?

19
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dunstable to be higher than in 19% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding52%Drought18%Hurricanes14%Everything else17%
By hazard

What Dunstable faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

18% of expected damage
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

14% 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 wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Dunstable flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Dunstable 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 Dunstable

11 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DunstableDeclared for Middlesex County only
2018

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$30K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2015

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$45K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$28K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$48K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$16K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

9 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $33K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$67K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $382 aid approved $12K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$21K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2003

Snow

$20K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
2001

Snow

$14K to the Town of Dunstable for repairs
Middlesex County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Around Dunstable

Dunstable and the towns around it

Pepperell: Low, mostly inland floodingTyngsborough: Low, mostly inland floodingGroton: Very low, mostly inland floodingNashua: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHollis: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTownsend: Low, mostly inland floodingChelmsford: Low, mostly inland floodingDracut: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLowell: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWestford: Very low, mostly inland floodingShirley: Very low, mostly inland floodingAyer: Very low, mostly inland floodingLittleton: Very low, mostly inland floodingMerrimack: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHudson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLitchfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDunstable: Very low, mostly inland flooding DunstablePepperellTyngsboroughGrotonNashua
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Nashuamostly inland floodingModerate
Tyngsboroughmostly inland floodingLow
Pepperellmostly inland floodingLow
Dunstablemostly inland floodingVery low
Grotonmostly 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. Dunstable covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dunstable’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Dunstable. 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 Dunstable total about $991K 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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