Natural hazards · Bivalve

Bivalve, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bivalve comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bivalve?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Hurricanes46%Inland flooding22%Coastal flooding11%Wildfire6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Bivalve faces

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

Hurricanes

46% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

11% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Bivalve flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wicomico County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

2homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Bivalve

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BivalveDeclared for Wicomico County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

4 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Wicomico County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Bivalve

Bivalve and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bivalvemostly hurricanesModerate

Jestervillemostly hurricanesModerate

Tyaskinmostly hurricanesModerate

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. Bivalve 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 Bivalve’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Bivalve. 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.