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Natural hazards · Cattaraugus

Cattaraugus, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cattaraugus comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 1978. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Cattaraugus?

34
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cattaraugus to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding81%Tornadoes6%Everything else12%
By hazard

What Cattaraugus faces

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

Inland flooding

81% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 50 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Cattaraugus flood?

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

16paid claims since 1978
$32Kpaid to owners
1homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Not a named storm: 1 claim, $605

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Cattaraugus isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cattaraugus County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
1flood-prone homes bought out and moved
Disasters that hit Cattaraugus

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CattaraugusDeclared for Cattaraugus County only
2014

Severe Storms and Flooding

$196K to the Village of Cattaraugus for repairs
2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

28 households applied for aid $88K aid approved $17K to the Village of Cattaraugus for repairs
2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$5K to the Village of Cattaraugus for repairs
2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

5 households applied for aid $6K aid approved
2001

Snow

$3K to the Village of Cattaraugus for repairs
2000

Snow

$1K to the Village of Cattaraugus for repairs
1999

Snow

$2K to the Village of Cattaraugus for repairs
Cattaraugus County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms 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. Cattaraugus 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 Cattaraugus’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Cattaraugus. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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