Natural hazards · Essex

Essex, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Essex comes from heat waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 60 claims here since 1978. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Essex?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Heat waves36%Inland flooding30%Hurricanes8%Earthquakes7%Cold waves5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Essex 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 4% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% 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 Essex flood?

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

60paid claims since 1978

$923Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 39 claims, $822K
Hurricane Floyd: 1 claim, $814
Hurricane Debby: 1 claim, $47K

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Essex 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 Essex

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into EssexDeclared for Baltimore County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

308 households applied for aid $710K aid approved

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

Around Essex

Essex and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bowleys Quartersmostly inland floodingLow

Rosedalemostly inland floodingVery low

Essexmostly heat wavesVery low

Dundalkmostly heat wavesVery low

Middle Rivermostly 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. Essex covers 10 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Essex’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Essex. 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 Essex total about $6.0M 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.