Natural hazards · Arbutus

Arbutus, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Arbutus comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 40 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Arbutus?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Arbutus to be higher than in 5% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.

Inland flooding39%Heat waves32%Hurricanes9%Earthquakes5%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Arbutus faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

32% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 13% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Arbutus flood?

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

40paid claims since 1979

$1.3Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 3 claims, $196K
Hurricane Irene: 2 claims, $4K
Hurricane Sandy: 1 claim, $4K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Baltimore County.

Disasters that hit Arbutus

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Baltimore County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Arbutus itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ArbutusDeclared for Baltimore County only

Baltimore County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Arbutus

Arbutus and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Baltimoremostly inland floodingVery low

Arbutusmostly inland floodingVery low

Catonsvillemostly inland floodingVery low

Lansdownemostly heat wavesVery low

Ilchestermostly inland floodingVery low

Elkridgemostly 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. Arbutus covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Arbutus’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Arbutus. 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 Arbutus total about $3.7M 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.