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Natural hazards · Medway

Medway, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Medway comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 17 claims here since 1983. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Medway?

61
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Medway to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding72%Hurricanes7%Winter weather6%Cold waves6%Everything else8%
By hazard

What Medway faces

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

Inland flooding

72% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 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 14 years in the area

Winter weather

6% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 26 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 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 Medway flood?

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

17paid claims since 1983
$102Kpaid to owners
2homes flooded more than once
19832026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Medway 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 Medway

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MedwayDeclared for Penobscot County only
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $37K aid approved $12K to the Town of Medway for repairs
2005

Snow

$6K to the Town of Medway for repairs
2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$6K to the Town of Medway for repairs
2001

Snow

$2K to the Town of Medway for repairs
Penobscot County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Medway

Medway and the towns around it

East Millinocket: Low, mostly inland floodingWoodville: High, mostly inland floodingChester: High, mostly inland floodingMedway: High, mostly inland flooding MedwayEast MillinocketWoodville
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Medwaymostly inland floodingHigh
Woodvillemostly inland floodingHigh
East Millinocketmostly 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. Medway 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 Medway’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Medway. 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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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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