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Natural hazards · Whately

Whately, MA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Whately comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2005. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Whately?

58
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Whately 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 Whately 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 Whately flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Whately, 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. Whately 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 Whately

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WhatelyDeclared for Franklin County only
2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$9K to the Town of Whately for repairs
2011

Severe Storm and Snowstorm

$4K to the Town of Whately for repairs
2011

Tropical Storm Irene

$4K to the Town of Whately for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$2K to the Town of Whately for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$6K to the Town of Whately for repairs
2003

Snow

$9K to the Town of Whately for repairs
2001

Snow

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

Whately and the towns around it

Sunderland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDeerfield: Low, mostly inland floodingHatfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingConway: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWilliamsburg: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLeverett: Low, mostly inland floodingMontague: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGreenfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingShelburne: High, mostly inland floodingHadley: Low, mostly inland floodingNorthampton: Low, mostly inland floodingGoshen: Moderate, mostly inland floodingAshfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBuckland: High, mostly inland floodingChesterfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWhately: Moderate, mostly inland flooding WhatelySunderlandDeerfieldHatfieldConwayWilliamsburg
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Whatelymostly inland floodingModerate
Sunderlandmostly inland floodingModerate
Williamsburgmostly inland floodingModerate
Hatfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
Conwaymostly inland floodingModerate
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. Whately covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Whately’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Whately. 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 Whately total about $2.3M 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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