Natural hazards · Cambridge

Cambridge, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cambridge comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1978. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cambridge?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cambridge to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding72%Tornadoes8%Cold waves7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Cambridge faces

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

Inland flooding

72% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 95 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Cambridge flood?

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

5paid claims since 1978

$14Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 1 claim, $1K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Cambridge

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CambridgeDeclared for Washington County only

2011

Hurricane Irene

8 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

2008

Severe Winter Storm

$18K to the Village of Cambridge for repairs

Washington County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Cambridge

Cambridge and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cambridgemostly inland floodingHigh

Jacksonmostly inland floodingModerate

Cambridgemostly inland floodingLow

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