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Natural hazards · Caribou

Caribou, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Caribou comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1981. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Caribou?

28
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Caribou to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves48%Inland flooding35%Hurricanes5%Everything else12%
By hazard

What Caribou faces

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

Cold waves

48% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places
Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 24 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 Caribou flood?

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

4paid claims since 1981
$6Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19812026
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Caribou isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Aroostook County.
Disasters that hit Caribou

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CaribouDeclared for Aroostook County only
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$262K to the City of Caribou for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $6K aid approved $14K to the City of Caribou for repairs
2005

Snow

$100K to the City of Caribou for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$34K to the City of Caribou for repairs
2003

Snow

$104K to the City of Caribou for repairs
2001

Snow

$19K to the City of Caribou for repairs
2000

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$15K to the City of Caribou for repairs
Aroostook County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Around Caribou

Caribou and the towns around it

Limestone: Low, mostly cold wavesWoodland: Low, mostly cold wavesFort Fairfield: Very low, mostly cold wavesPresque Isle: Low, mostly cold wavesCaswell: Low, mostly cold wavesPerham: Low, mostly cold wavesNew Sweden: Low, mostly cold wavesWashburn: Low, mostly cold wavesEaston: Very low, mostly cold wavesWestfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCaribou: Low, mostly cold waves CaribouLimestoneWoodlandFort FairfieldPresque Isle
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Limestonemostly cold wavesLow
Cariboumostly cold wavesLow
Woodlandmostly cold wavesLow
Presque Islemostly cold wavesLow
Fort Fairfieldmostly cold wavesVery low
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. Caribou covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Caribou’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Caribou. 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 Caribou total about $3.5M 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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