Natural hazards · Medford

Medford, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Medford comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Medford?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Medford to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves48%Inland flooding25%Ice storms9%Lightning6%Hurricanes6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Medford 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 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Ice storms

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDrought

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 Medford flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Medford isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Piscataquis County.

Disasters that hit Medford

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Piscataquis County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Medford itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into MedfordDeclared for Piscataquis County only

Piscataquis County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Medford

Medford and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lake View plantationmostly cold wavesHigh

Maxfieldmostly inland floodingHigh

Medfordmostly cold wavesModerate

Milomostly cold wavesModerate

Lagrangemostly inland floodingModerate

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