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Natural hazards · Forest Heights

Forest Heights, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forest Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2012. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Forest Heights?

9
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forest Heights to be higher than in 9% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding57%Heat waves9%Hurricanes9%Tornadoes9%Earthquakes5%Everything else11%
By hazard

What Forest Heights faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

9% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Forest Heights flood?

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

3paid claims since 2012
$107Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20122026
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Forest Heights isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Prince George's County.
Disasters that hit Forest Heights

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Forest Heights itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Forest Heights.

Brought FEMA money into Forest HeightsDeclared for Prince George's County only
2016

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$25K to the Town of Forest Heights for repairs
2010

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms

$23K to the Town of Forest Heights for repairs
2003

Hurricane Isabel

2 households applied for aid
2003

Snow

$2K to the Town of Forest Heights for repairs
2000

Severe Winter Storm

$2K to the Town of Forest Heights for repairs
Prince George's County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.
Around Forest Heights

Forest Heights and the towns around it

Glassmanor: Very low, mostly inland floodingOxon Hill: Very low, mostly inland floodingNational Harbor: Very low, mostly inland floodingMarlow Heights: Very low, mostly inland floodingHillcrest Heights: Very low, mostly inland floodingFriendly: Very low, mostly inland floodingTemple Hills: Very low, mostly inland floodingCamp Springs: Very low, mostly inland floodingFort Washington: Very low, mostly inland floodingForest Heights: Very low, mostly inland flooding Forest HeightsGlassmanorOxon HillNational Harbor
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Oxon Hillmostly inland floodingVery low
Forest Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low
National Harbormostly inland floodingVery low
Glassmanormostly 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. Forest Heights covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Forest Heights’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Forest Heights. 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 Forest Heights total about $1.0M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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