Natural hazards · Athens

Athens, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Athens comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1983. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Athens?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Athens to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding42%Cold waves26%Hurricanes18%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Athens faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Athens flood?

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

1paid claims since 1983

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Athens 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 Athens

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AthensDeclared for Somerset County only

2023

Severe Storm and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

Somerset County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Athens

Athens and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Solonmostly inland floodingHigh

Hartlandmostly inland floodingModerate

Athensmostly inland floodingModerate

Brighton plantationmostly inland floodingModerate

Harmonymostly inland floodingModerate

Cornvillemostly inland floodingModerate

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. Athens covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Athens’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Athens. 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 Athens total about $998K 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.