Natural hazards · Bradford

Bradford, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bradford comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bradford?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bradford to be higher than in 24% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding54%Hurricanes14%Winter weather8%Everything else24%

By hazard

What Bradford faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Winter weather

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 24 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsCold 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 Bradford flood?

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

2paid claims since 1979

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Bradford 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 Bradford

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BradfordDeclared for Penobscot County only

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$4K to the Town of Bradford for repairs

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

Around Bradford

Bradford and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Altonmostly inland floodingModerate

Bradfordmostly inland floodingLow

Hudsonmostly inland floodingLow

Charlestonmostly 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. Bradford covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bradford’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Bradford. 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 Bradford total about $584K 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.