Natural hazards · Riviera Beach

Riviera Beach, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Riviera Beach comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 27 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Riviera Beach?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding40%Heat waves12%Tornadoes11%Hurricanes10%Strong wind6%Everything else21%

By hazard

What Riviera Beach faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 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

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Riviera Beach flood?

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

27paid claims since 1979

$450Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 17 claims, $322K
Hurricane Fran: 2 claims, $5K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Anne Arundel County.

Disasters that hit Riviera Beach

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Anne Arundel County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Riviera Beach itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Riviera BeachDeclared for Anne Arundel County only

Anne Arundel County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Riviera Beach

Riviera Beach and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Riviera Beachmostly inland floodingVery low

Pasadenamostly 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. Riviera Beach covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Riviera Beach’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Riviera Beach. 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 Riviera Beach total about $909K 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.