Natural hazards · Shirley

Shirley, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shirley comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Shirley?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shirley to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves60%Inland flooding23%Hurricanes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Shirley faces

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

Cold waves

60% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

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

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Shirley flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Shirley 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 Shirley

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ShirleyDeclared for Piscataquis County only

2023

Severe Storm and Flooding

$60K to the Town of Shirley for repairs

2000

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$3K to the Town of Shirley for repairs

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

Around Shirley

Shirley and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Shirleymostly cold wavesModerate

Monsonmostly cold wavesModerate

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