Natural hazards · Fort Ritchie

Fort Ritchie, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fort Ritchie comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fort Ritchie?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding47%Hurricanes22%Tornadoes10%Heat waves6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Fort Ritchie faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 2% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Fort Ritchie flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Fort Ritchie.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Fort Ritchie

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Washington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fort Ritchie itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Fort RitchieDeclared for Washington County only

Washington County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Fort Ritchie

Fort Ritchie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Fort Ritchiemostly inland floodingVery low

Highfield-Cascademostly 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. Fort Ritchie is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fort Ritchie’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fort Ritchie. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.