Natural hazards · Riverside

Riverside, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Riverside comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2014.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Riverside?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Riverside to be higher than in 4% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Heat waves13%Hurricanes8%Cold waves8%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Riverside faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Riverside flood?

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

1paid claims since 2014

$421paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20142026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $421

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Harford County.

Disasters that hit Riverside

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into RiversideDeclared for Harford County only

Harford County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Riverside

Riverside and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Abingdonmostly inland floodingVery low

Perrymanmostly inland floodingVery low

Riversidemostly 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. Riverside covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Riverside’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Riverside. 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 Riverside total about $1.1M 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.