Natural hazards · St. Michaels

St. Michaels, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Michaels comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 38 claims here since 1978. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Michaels?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Michaels to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding22%Hurricanes22%Coastal flooding21%Heat waves11%Everything else24%

By hazard

What St. Michaels faces

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

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Coastal flooding

21% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 St. Michaels flood?

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

38paid claims since 1978

$830Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 16 claims, $429K
Hurricane Fran: 3 claims, $77K
Hurricane Floyd: 1 claim, $268

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Talbot County.

Disasters that hit St. Michaels

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in St. Michaels itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of St. Michaels.

Brought FEMA money into St. MichaelsDeclared for Talbot County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

35 households applied for aid $68K aid approved

Talbot County has had 16 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. St. Michaels 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 St. Michaels’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of St. Michaels. 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.