Natural hazards · Otis

Otis, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Otis comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Otis?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Otis to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding59%Hurricanes16%Cold waves10%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Otis faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Otis flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hancock County.

Disasters that hit Otis

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OtisDeclared for Hancock County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Hancock County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Otis

Otis and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Otismostly inland floodingHigh

Dedhammostly inland floodingHigh

Mariavillemostly inland floodingHigh

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