Natural hazards · Clifton

Clifton, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clifton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Clifton?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding52%Hurricanes13%Winter weather9%Ice storms7%Cold waves6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Clifton faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Winter weather

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 24 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

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Clifton flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Clifton 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 Clifton

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CliftonDeclared for Penobscot County only

2005

Snow

$925 to the Town of Clifton for repairs

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

Around Clifton

Clifton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bradleymostly inland floodingModerate

Cliftonmostly inland floodingLow

Eddingtonmostly 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. Clifton 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 Clifton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Clifton. 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.