Natural hazards · Ilchester

Ilchester, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ilchester comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ilchester?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ilchester to be higher than in 3% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding57%Heat waves12%Strong wind7%Hurricanes7%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Ilchester 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 9% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 Ilchester flood?

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

1paid claims since 1979

$27Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Howard County.

Disasters that hit Ilchester

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into IlchesterDeclared for Howard County only

Howard County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Ilchester

Ilchester and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Arbutusmostly inland floodingVery low

Ilchestermostly inland floodingVery low

Ellicott Citymostly inland floodingVery low

Catonsvillemostly inland floodingVery low

Columbiamostly inland floodingVery low

Elkridgemostly 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. Ilchester covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ilchester’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Ilchester. 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 Ilchester total about $3.4M 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.