Natural hazards · Highland Beach

Highland Beach, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Highland Beach comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 2003. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Highland Beach?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding45%Coastal flooding21%Hurricanes10%Heat waves6%Tornadoes6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Highland Beach faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Coastal flooding

21% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Highland Beach flood?

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

9paid claims since 2003

$187Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20032026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 5 claims, $150K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Anne Arundel County.

Disasters that hit Highland Beach

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Highland BeachDeclared for Anne Arundel County only

2010

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms

$2K to the Town of Highland Beach for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$975 to the Town of Highland Beach for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

$67K to the Town of Highland Beach for repairs

Anne Arundel County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Highland Beach

Highland Beach and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Highland Beachmostly inland floodingVery low

Annapolis Neckmostly 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. Highland Beach 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 Highland Beach’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Highland Beach. 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.