Gilead’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gilead comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Gilead’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Gilead flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Gilead. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Gilead isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Oxford County.How exposed is Gilead?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Rated higher than 449 of the 477 Maine towns we cover.
Gilead is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Gilead faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Cold waves
10 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Gilead
Disasters that paid out in Gilead itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Gilead) and its biggest flood years.
- 2023Severe Storm and Flooding3 households applied for aid$8K aid approved$71K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2007Severe Storms and Flooding$78K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2007Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding$2K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2005Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow Melt, and Ice Jams$2K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2005Record And/Or Near Record Snow$2K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2003Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow Melt and Ice Jams$22K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
Show all 10
- 2003Snow$2K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2001Severe Winter Storms and Flooding$3K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2001Snow$4K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
- 2000Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams$18K to the Town of Gilead for repairs
Oxford County has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Old photos of Gilead after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Gilead archive →Get ready for what Gilead actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in March–April
The month each of Oxford County’s 33 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Gilead’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Gilead.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Gilead.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.