Natural hazards · Alton

Alton, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Alton?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alton to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding61%Hurricanes10%Winter weather7%Ice storms5%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Alton faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Winter weather

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 24 times a year in the area

Ice storms

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Alton flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Penobscot County.

Disasters that hit Alton

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Penobscot County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Alton itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into AltonDeclared for Penobscot County only

Penobscot County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Alton

Alton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Old Townmostly inland floodingHigh

Altonmostly inland floodingModerate

Lagrangemostly inland floodingModerate

Hudsonmostly inland floodingLow

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