Natural hazards · Dames Quarter

Dames Quarter, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dames Quarter comes from coastal flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 174 claims here since 1984. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dames Quarter?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dames Quarter to be higher than in 98% of U.S. communities, mostly from coastal flooding and hurricanes.

Coastal flooding61%Hurricanes16%Wildfire10%Inland flooding8%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Dames Quarter faces

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

Coastal flooding

61% of expected damage

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

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

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 Dames Quarter flood?

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

174paid claims since 1984

$2.7Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19842026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Sandy: 76 claims, $1.2M
Hurricane Isabel: 47 claims, $575K
Hurricane Floyd: 6 claims, $53K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Somerset County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Dames Quarter

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Dames QuarterDeclared for Somerset County only

2012

Hurricane Sandy

4 households applied for aid $545 aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

10 households applied for aid $41K aid approved

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

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. Dames Quarter covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dames Quarter’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Dames Quarter. 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 Dames Quarter total about $2.1M 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.