Natural hazards · Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elizabethtown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 26 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 Elizabethtown?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elizabethtown to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.

Inland flooding67%Avalanches16%Landslides7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Elizabethtown 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

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Avalanches

16% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Landslides

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesStrong windLightning

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 Elizabethtown flood?

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

26paid claims since 1978

$329Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irene: 4 claims, $132K
December Nor'easter: 1 claim, $31K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Essex County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Elizabethtown

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElizabethtownDeclared for Essex County only

2024

Severe Storm, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$2.4M to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$40K to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$8K to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

2013

Severe Storms and Flooding

$137K to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

2011

Hurricane Irene

42 households applied for aid $184K aid approved $129K to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

2011

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

$37K to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

1999

Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations

$2K to the Town of Elizabethtown for repairs

Essex County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jaymostly inland floodingHigh

Westportmostly inland floodingHigh

North Hudsonmostly inland floodingHigh

Lewismostly inland floodingHigh

Elizabethtownmostly inland floodingModerate

Keenemostly inland floodingModerate

Moriahmostly inland floodingModerate

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