Natural hazards · Westernport

Westernport, MD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Westernport comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 38 claims here since 1985. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Westernport?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Westernport to be higher than in 35% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding83%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Westernport faces

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

Inland flooding

83% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Westernport flood?

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

38paid claims since 1985

$2.4Mpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19852026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Fran: 22 claims, $731K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Allegany County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Westernport

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WesternportDeclared for Allegany County only

2016

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$32K to the Town of Westernport for repairs

2012

Hurricane Sandy

$4K to the Town of Westernport for repairs

2010

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms

$5K to the Town of Westernport for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $8K to the Town of Westernport for repairs

2003

Snow

$14K to the Town of Westernport for repairs

Allegany County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Westernport

Westernport and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Piedmontmostly inland floodingVery high

Westernportmostly inland floodingLow

Franklinmostly inland floodingLow

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. Westernport 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 Westernport’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Westernport. 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.