Natural hazards · Brownsville

Brownsville, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brownsville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brownsville?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brownsville to be higher than in 15% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding55%Hurricanes16%Tornadoes7%Heat waves6%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Brownsville faces

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

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 52 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 Brownsville flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Brownsville

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrownsvilleDeclared for Washington County only

Washington County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

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