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Natural hazards · Wendell

Wendell, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wendell comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Wendell?

51
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wendell to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding71%Cold waves8%Hurricanes6%Everything else15%
By hazard

What Wendell faces

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

Inland flooding

71% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

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 Wendell flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Wendell 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 Wendell

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WendellDeclared for Franklin County only
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$7K to the Town of Wendell for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$5K to the Town of Wendell for repairs
2008

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$64K to the Town of Wendell for repairs
2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

$15K to the Town of Wendell for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$6K to the Town of Wendell for repairs
2003

Snow

$9K to the Town of Wendell for repairs
2001

Snow

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

Wendell and the towns around it

Erving: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMontague: Moderate, mostly inland floodingOrange: High, mostly inland floodingNew Salem: Low, mostly inland floodingGill: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorthfield: Low, mostly inland floodingDeerfield: Low, mostly inland floodingGreenfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSunderland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingAthol: High, mostly inland floodingWarwick: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRoyalston: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPetersham: Very low, mostly inland floodingPelham: Low, mostly inland floodingBelchertown: Low, mostly inland floodingWare: Moderate, mostly inland floodingShutesbury: Low, mostly inland floodingWendell: Moderate, mostly inland flooding WendellErvingMontagueOrangeNew Salem
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Orangemostly inland floodingHigh
Wendellmostly inland floodingModerate
Ervingmostly inland floodingModerate
Montaguemostly inland floodingModerate
New Salemmostly 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. Wendell 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 Wendell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Wendell. 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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