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Natural hazards · Canaan

Canaan, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Canaan comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Canaan?

43
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Canaan to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding34%Cold waves30%Hurricanes16%Everything else20%
By hazard

What Canaan faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 11 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 Canaan flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Canaan 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 Canaan

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CanaanDeclared for Somerset County only
2023

Severe Storm and Flooding

20 households applied for aid $16K aid approved
2017

Severe Storm and Flooding

$5K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$10K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$5K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2005

Snow

$6K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$7K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2003

Snow

$13K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow Melt and Ice Jams

$11K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2001

Snow

$5K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
2000

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$10K to the Town of Canaan for repairs
Somerset County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Canaan

Canaan and the towns around it

Skowhegan: Low, mostly inland floodingHartland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPittsfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingClinton: High, mostly inland floodingCornville: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorridgewock: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMadison: Low, mostly cold wavesFairfield: Moderate, mostly cold wavesAthens: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSt. Albans: Low, mostly inland floodingPalmyra: Low, mostly cold wavesBurnham: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDetroit: Low, mostly cold wavesBenton: High, mostly inland floodingCanaan: Moderate, mostly inland flooding CanaanSkowheganHartlandPittsfieldClintonCornville
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Clintonmostly inland floodingHigh
Hartlandmostly inland floodingModerate
Pittsfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
Canaanmostly inland floodingModerate
Cornvillemostly inland floodingModerate
Skowheganmostly 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. Canaan 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 Canaan’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Canaan. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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