Natural hazards · North Laurel

North Laurel, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in North Laurel comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 2003.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is North Laurel?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding49%Heat waves15%Strong wind8%Hurricanes6%Cold waves5%Everything else16%

By hazard

What North Laurel faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 4% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

15% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 North Laurel flood?

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

6paid claims since 2003

$20Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20032026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $5K
Hurricane Isabel: 1 claim, $679

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. North Laurel 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 North Laurel

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into North LaurelDeclared for Howard County only

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

Around North Laurel

North Laurel and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Scaggsvillemostly inland floodingVery low

Columbiamostly inland floodingVery low

North Laurelmostly inland floodingVery low

Savagemostly inland floodingVery low

Laurelmostly inland floodingVery low

Maryland Citymostly 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. North Laurel covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to North Laurel’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to North Laurel. 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 North Laurel total about $1.8M 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.