Natural hazards · Elkridge

Elkridge, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elkridge comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 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 Elkridge?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elkridge to be higher than in 1% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Heat waves11%Hurricanes8%Strong wind7%Everything else21%

By hazard

What Elkridge 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 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Elkridge flood?

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

9paid claims since 1979

$69Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Howard County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Elkridge

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElkridgeDeclared for Howard County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

7 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Howard County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Elkridge

Elkridge and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Arbutusmostly inland floodingVery low

Ilchestermostly inland floodingVery low

Elkridgemostly inland floodingVery low

Jessupmostly 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. Elkridge covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Elkridge’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Elkridge. 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 Elkridge total about $3.5M 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.