Natural hazards · Shady Side

Shady Side, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shady Side comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 409 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Shady Side?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shady Side to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and coastal flooding.

Inland flooding40%Coastal flooding22%Hurricanes7%Heat waves7%Tornadoes6%Drought5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Shady Side 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

Coastal flooding

22% of expected damage

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

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 93 years in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Shady Side flood?

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

409paid claims since 1979

$9.2Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 338 claims, $8.6M
Hurricane Fran: 10 claims, $67K
Hurricane Floyd: 4 claims, $14K

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Shady Side 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Shady Side

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Shady SideDeclared for Anne Arundel County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

311 households applied for aid $807K aid approved

Anne Arundel County has had 20 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. Shady Side covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Shady Side’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Shady Side. 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 Shady Side total about $1.2M 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.