Natural hazards · Damascus

Damascus, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Damascus comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2012. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Damascus?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Damascus to be higher than in 3% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Hurricanes11%Heat waves8%Cold waves6%Earthquakes5%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Damascus faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 6% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Damascus flood?

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

2paid claims since 2012

$29Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20122026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Sandy: 1 claim, $98

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Montgomery County.

Disasters that hit Damascus

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DamascusDeclared for Montgomery County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

14 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Montgomery County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.

Around Damascus

Damascus and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Clarksburgmostly inland floodingVery low

Damascusmostly 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. Damascus covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Damascus’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Damascus. 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 Damascus total about $1.5M 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.