Natural hazards · Dundalk

Dundalk, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dundalk comes from heat waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 302 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dundalk?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dundalk to be higher than in 4% of U.S. communities, mostly from heat waves and inland flooding.

Heat waves36%Inland flooding30%Earthquakes10%Hurricanes8%Cold waves5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Dundalk faces

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

Heat waves

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Dundalk flood?

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

302paid claims since 1979

$6.1Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 239 claims, $5.6M
Hurricane Fran: 5 claims, $24K
Hurricane Irene: 4 claims, $30K

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Dundalk 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 Dundalk

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DundalkDeclared for Baltimore County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

1,114 households applied for aid $3.2M aid approved

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

Around Dundalk

Dundalk and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rosedalemostly inland floodingVery low

Baltimoremostly inland floodingVery low

Dundalkmostly heat wavesVery low

Essexmostly heat wavesVery low

Edgemeremostly 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. Dundalk covers 20 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dundalk’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Dundalk. 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 Dundalk total about $9.9M 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.