Natural hazards · Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bar Harbor comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1978. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bar Harbor?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Hurricanes41%Inland flooding20%Coastal flooding13%Cold waves8%Ice storms7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Bar Harbor faces

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

Hurricanes

41% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

13% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

TsunamisVolcanic 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 Bar Harbor flood?

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

3paid claims since 1978

$27Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hancock County.

Disasters that hit Bar Harbor

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Bar HarborDeclared for Hancock County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $15K aid approved $575K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2009

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

$54K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$56K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2007

Flooding

$24K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow Melt, and Ice Jams

$33K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$16K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2003

Snow

$24K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

2001

Snow

$8K to the Town of Bar Harbor for repairs

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

Around Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Gouldsboromostly hurricanesModerate

Mount Desertmostly hurricanesLow

Trentonmostly hurricanesLow

Lamoinemostly hurricanesLow

Hancockmostly hurricanesLow

Bar Harbormostly hurricanesLow

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. Bar Harbor covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bar Harbor’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Bar Harbor. 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 Bar Harbor total about $2.3M 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.