Natural hazards · Brightwaters

Brightwaters, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brightwaters comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 111 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brightwaters?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brightwaters to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding67%Hurricanes11%Coastal flooding10%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Brightwaters faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Coastal flooding

10% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Brightwaters flood?

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

111paid claims since 1978

$3.7Mpaid to owners

11homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Sandy: 62 claims, $3.3M
Torrential rain: 8 claims, $87K
March 2010 Nor'easter: 5 claims, $18K

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. Brightwaters isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Suffolk County.

Disasters that hit Brightwaters

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrightwatersDeclared for Suffolk County only

2021

Remnants of Hurricane Ida

11 households applied for aid

2012

Hurricane Sandy

96 households applied for aid $333K aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

4 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

Suffolk County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

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. Brightwaters covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Brightwaters’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Brightwaters. 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 Brightwaters total about $857K 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.