Natural hazards · Brighton

Brighton, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brighton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 13 claims here since 1980.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brighton?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brighton to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Earthquakes11%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Brighton faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Brighton flood?

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

13paid claims since 1980

$51Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

April 2007 Nor'easter: 2 claims, $9K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Franklin County.

Disasters that hit Brighton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrightonDeclared for Franklin County only

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

Around Brighton

Brighton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Duanemostly inland floodingHigh

Harrietstownmostly inland floodingModerate

Santa Claramostly inland floodingModerate

Brightonmostly inland floodingVery low

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