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Natural hazards · Sunderland

Sunderland, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sunderland comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2005. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Sunderland?

58
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sunderland to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding63%Drought9%Hurricanes9%Cold waves5%Everything else13%
By hazard

What Sunderland faces

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

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

9% of expected damage
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Sunderland flood?

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

3paid claims since 2005
$18Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20052026
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Sunderland 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 Sunderland

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SunderlandDeclared for Franklin County only
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$13K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$44K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2011

Tropical Storm Irene

$1K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$60K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $11K aid approved $55K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$10K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2003

Snow

$17K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
2001

Snow

$5K to the Town of Sunderland for repairs
Franklin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Around Sunderland

Sunderland and the towns around it

Deerfield: Low, mostly inland floodingWhately: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLeverett: Low, mostly inland floodingMontague: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGreenfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingConway: Moderate, mostly inland floodingShelburne: High, mostly inland floodingHatfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWilliamsburg: Moderate, mostly inland floodingAmherst Town: Low, mostly inland floodingErving: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWendell: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGill: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSunderland: Moderate, mostly inland flooding SunderlandDeerfieldWhatelyLeverettMontague
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Sunderlandmostly inland floodingModerate
Whatelymostly inland floodingModerate
Montaguemostly inland floodingModerate
Leverettmostly inland floodingLow
Deerfieldmostly inland floodingLow
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. Sunderland 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 Sunderland’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Sunderland. 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.

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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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