Natural hazards · Smith Island

Smith Island, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Smith Island comes from coastal flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Smith Island?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Smith Island to be higher than in 98% of U.S. communities, mostly from coastal flooding and hurricanes.

Coastal flooding61%Hurricanes16%Wildfire10%Inland flooding8%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Smith Island faces

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

Coastal flooding

61% of expected damage

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

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Smith Island flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Smith Island.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Somerset County.

Disasters that hit Smith Island

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Smith IslandDeclared for Somerset County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

1 household applied for aid $3K aid approved

Somerset County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

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. Smith Island is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Smith Island’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Smith Island. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.