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Natural hazards · Belfast

Belfast, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Belfast comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 18 claims here since 2009. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Belfast?

25
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Belfast to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes28%Inland flooding23%Cold waves12%Ice storms9%Coastal flooding9%Winter weather7%Everything else13%
By hazard

What Belfast faces

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

Hurricanes

28% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Ice storms

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Winter weather

7% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 25 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat 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 Belfast flood?

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

18paid claims since 2009
$1.0Mpaid to owners
2homes flooded more than once
20092026

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Belfast isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Waldo County.
Disasters that hit Belfast

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BelfastDeclared for Waldo County only
2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

44 households applied for aid $22K aid approved $707K to the City of Belfast for repairs
2023

Severe Storm and Flooding

$18K to the City of Belfast for repairs
2022

Severe Storm and Flooding

$44K to the City of Belfast for repairs
2007

Flooding

$7K to the City of Belfast for repairs
Waldo County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Belfast

Belfast and the towns around it

Northport: Low, mostly hurricanesSearsport: Low, mostly inland floodingWaldo: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLincolnville: Low, mostly hurricanesIslesboro: no dataBelmont: Moderate, mostly inland floodingStockton Springs: Low, mostly inland floodingProspect: Low, mostly inland floodingSwanville: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCastine: Very low, mostly hurricanesBrooks: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMorrill: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBelfast: Low, mostly hurricanes BelfastNorthportSearsportWaldo
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Waldomostly inland floodingModerate
Searsportmostly inland floodingLow
Northportmostly hurricanesLow
Belfastmostly 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. Belfast covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Belfast’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Belfast. 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 Belfast total about $1.7M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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