Natural hazards · Ocean Pines

Ocean Pines, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ocean Pines comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 124 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ocean Pines?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ocean Pines to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes38%Inland flooding27%Coastal flooding14%Cold waves13%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Ocean Pines faces

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

Hurricanes

38% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

14% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Ocean Pines flood?

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

124paid claims since 1978

$718Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Sandy: 13 claims, $142K
Hurricane Gloria: 8 claims, $102K
Hurricane Irene: 2 claims, $20K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Worcester County.

Disasters that hit Ocean Pines

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Ocean PinesDeclared for Worcester County only

Worcester County has had 10 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. Ocean Pines covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ocean Pines’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Ocean Pines. 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 Ocean Pines total about $3.2M 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.