Natural hazards · Wales

Wales, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wales comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2008. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wales?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding47%Hurricanes22%Ice storms8%Everything else23%

By hazard

What Wales faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Ice storms

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Wales flood?

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

2paid claims since 2008

$11Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20082026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Androscoggin County.

Disasters that hit Wales

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WalesDeclared for Androscoggin County only

2023

Severe Storm and Flooding

9 households applied for aid $20K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$1K to the Town of Wales for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow Melt, and Ice Jams

$4K to the Town of Wales for repairs

2003

Snow

$1K to the Town of Wales for repairs

Androscoggin County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Wales

Wales and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Walesmostly inland floodingLow

Sabattusmostly inland floodingLow

Litchfieldmostly inland floodingLow

Monmouthmostly inland floodingLow

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