Natural hazards · Columbia

Columbia, NH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Columbia comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1981.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Columbia?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Columbia to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and inland flooding.

Avalanches66%Inland flooding24%Cold waves7%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Columbia faces

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

Avalanches

66% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Columbia flood?

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

2paid claims since 1981

$33Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Coos County.

Disasters that hit Columbia

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Coos County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Columbia itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ColumbiaDeclared for Coos County only

Coos County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Columbia

Columbia and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Stratfordmostly avalanchesVery high

Columbiamostly avalanchesVery high

Colebrookmostly avalanchesVery high

Bloomfieldmostly inland floodingHigh

Lemingtonmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Columbia covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Columbia’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Columbia. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Columbia total about $6.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.