Natural hazards · Nanticoke

Nanticoke, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Nanticoke comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Nanticoke?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Nanticoke to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes46%Inland flooding22%Coastal flooding11%Wildfire6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Nanticoke faces

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

Hurricanes

46% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

11% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Nanticoke flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wicomico County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Nanticoke

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NanticokeDeclared for Wicomico County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

16 households applied for aid $21K aid approved

Wicomico County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Nanticoke

Nanticoke and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Nanticokemostly hurricanesModerate

Nanticoke Acresmostly hurricanesModerate

Jestervillemostly hurricanesModerate

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