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Natural hazards · Madawaska

Madawaska, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Madawaska comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2008. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Madawaska?

16
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Madawaska to be higher than in 16% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves56%Inland flooding28%Hurricanes7%Everything else10%
By hazard

What Madawaska faces

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

Cold waves

56% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places
Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Madawaska flood?

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

2paid claims since 2008
$22Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20082026
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Madawaska 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

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Madawaska

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MadawaskaDeclared for Aroostook County only
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $36K aid approved $16K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
2005

Snow

$56K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$14K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
2003

Snow

$39K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
2002

Severe Winter Cold and Frost

$2K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
2001

Snow

$4K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
2000

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$1K to the Town of Madawaska for repairs
Aroostook County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Around Madawaska

Madawaska and the towns around it

St. Agatha: Low, mostly cold wavesGrand Isle: Low, mostly cold wavesFrenchville: Low, mostly cold wavesVan Buren: Low, mostly cold wavesFort Kent: Moderate, mostly cold wavesMadawaska: Very low, mostly cold waves MadawaskaSt. AgathaGrand IsleFrenchville
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
St. Agathamostly cold wavesLow
Frenchvillemostly cold wavesLow
Grand Islemostly cold wavesLow
Madawaskamostly 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. Madawaska covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Madawaska’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Madawaska. 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 Madawaska total about $1.8M 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/15 · 2025-01-01
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