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Natural hazards · Island Falls

Island Falls, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Island Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1987. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Island Falls?

30
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Island Falls to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding47%Cold waves33%Hurricanes10%Winter weather5%Everything else5%
By hazard

What Island Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

33% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Winter weather

5% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 29 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsHeat 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 Island Falls flood?

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

5paid claims since 1987
$22Kpaid to owners
1homes flooded more than once
19872026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Island Falls 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Island Falls

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Island FallsDeclared for Aroostook County only
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$4K to the Town of Island Falls for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

20 households applied for aid $85K aid approved $13K to the Town of Island Falls for repairs
2002

Severe Winter Cold and Frost

$6K to the Town of Island Falls for repairs
Aroostook County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Around Island Falls

Island Falls and the towns around it

Crystal: Low, mostly inland floodingDyer Brook: Low, mostly inland floodingSherman: Low, mostly inland floodingPatten: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHersey: Low, mostly inland floodingMerrill: Low, mostly inland floodingOakfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMoro plantation: Low, mostly inland floodingStacyville: Moderate, mostly inland floodingIsland Falls: Low, mostly inland flooding Island FallsCrystalDyer BrookSherman
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Island Fallsmostly inland floodingLow
Crystalmostly inland floodingLow
Dyer Brookmostly inland floodingLow
Shermanmostly 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. Island Falls 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 Island Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Island Falls. 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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You’re in Island Falls, MEAroostook CountyView boundary

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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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