Natural hazards · Wellfleet

Wellfleet, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wellfleet comes from inland flooding, 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 Wellfleet?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wellfleet to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding25%Drought25%Hail20%Tornadoes11%Cold waves8%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Wellfleet faces

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

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

25% of expected damage

Recorded about 90 times a year in the area

Hail

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Wellfleet flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lincoln County.

Disasters that hit Wellfleet

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WellfleetDeclared for Lincoln County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$375 to the Village of Wellfleet for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$11K to the Village of Wellfleet for repairs

Lincoln County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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. Wellfleet 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 Wellfleet’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Wellfleet. 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.