Natural hazards · Grantsville

Grantsville, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grantsville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Grantsville?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Grantsville to be higher than in 11% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Cold waves7%Strong wind7%Tornadoes5%Hurricanes5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Grantsville faces

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

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 45 years in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 38 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Grantsville flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Garrett County.

Disasters that hit Grantsville

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into GrantsvilleDeclared for Garrett County only

2012

Hurricane Sandy

$11K to the Town of Grantsville for repairs

2010

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms

$3K to the Town of Grantsville for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

2 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2003

Snow

$1K to the Town of Grantsville for repairs

Garrett County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

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. Grantsville 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 Grantsville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Grantsville. 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.