Natural hazards · Otis

Otis, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Otis comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2005. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Otis?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Otis to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding72%Hurricanes9%Cold waves7%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Otis faces

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

Inland flooding

72% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Otis flood?

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

3paid claims since 2005

$32Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20052026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irene: 2 claims, $11K

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Otis isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Berkshire County.

Disasters that hit Otis

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OtisDeclared for Berkshire County only

2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$11K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$5K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2011

Tropical Storm Irene

7 households applied for aid $38K aid approved $158K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$12K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$147K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$77K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $27K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$8K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2003

Snow

$12K to the Town of Otis for repairs

2001

Snow

$8K to the Town of Otis for repairs

Berkshire County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Otis

Otis and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Tollandmostly inland floodingHigh

Otismostly inland floodingModerate

Sandisfieldmostly inland floodingModerate

Tyringhammostly inland floodingModerate

Montereymostly inland floodingModerate

Becketmostly 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. Otis 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 Otis’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Otis. 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.