Natural hazards · Big Flats

Big Flats, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Flats comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 29 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Flats?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding82%Tornadoes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Big Flats faces

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

Inland flooding

82% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

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 Big Flats flood?

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

29paid claims since 1979

$246Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Torrential rain: 1 claim, $9K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Big Flats is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Chemung County.

Disasters that hit Big Flats

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big FlatsDeclared for Chemung County only

2018

Severe Storms and Flooding

$1.1M to the Town of Big Flats for repairs

2011

Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

$43K to the Town of Big Flats for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$13K to the Town of Big Flats for repairs

Chemung County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Big Flats

Big Flats and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elmiramostly inland floodingHigh

Catlinmostly inland floodingModerate

Southportmostly inland floodingLow

Corningmostly inland floodingLow

Big Flatsmostly inland floodingLow

Horseheadsmostly inland floodingVery 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. Big Flats covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Big Flats’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Big Flats. 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 Big Flats total about $2.1M 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.