Natural hazards · Van Buren

Van Buren, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Van Buren comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1984. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Van Buren?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Van Buren to be higher than in 24% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves44%Inland flooding38%Hurricanes6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Van Buren faces

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

Cold waves

44% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% 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 Van Buren flood?

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

1paid claims since 1984

$3Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19842026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Van Buren 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 Van Buren

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Van BurenDeclared for Aroostook County only

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$9K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

36 households applied for aid $229K aid approved $38K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2005

Snow

$26K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2005

Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$7K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2003

Snow

$17K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Cold and Frost

$14K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2001

Snow

$3K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

2000

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$23K to the Town of Van Buren for repairs

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

Around Van Buren

Van Buren and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hamlinmostly cold wavesLow

Cyr plantationmostly cold wavesLow

Van Burenmostly cold wavesLow

Grand Islemostly cold wavesLow

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