Fire Island’s biggest natural hazard is coastal flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fire Island comes from coastal flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3,079 claims here since 1978.
What stands out about Fire Island’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
What Fire Island faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Coastal flooding
Inland flooding
Does Fire Island flood? Yes: 3,079 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Fire Island, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Sandy1,768 claims · $119M
- The “Halloween” storm354 claims · $5.8M
- The December Storm - nor’easter334 claims · $8.7M
Fire Island 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.The storms Fire Island remembers
None of the disasters declared for Suffolk County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fire Island itself in FEMA’s records.
- 20121,771 flood claims paidThe most in any one year on record
- 1992338 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
- 1991362 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
Suffolk County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Old photos of Fire Island after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Fire Island archive →How exposed is Fire Island?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from coastal flooding and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 1,515 of the 1,524 New York towns we cover.
Fire Island covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Get ready for what Fire Island actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Fire Island and its neighbors
Fire Island has the highest rating of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Island | Very high | coastal flooding | 3,079 |
| West Hampton Dunes | Moderate | inland flooding | 51 |
| Brookhaven | Low | inland flooding | 3,825 |
| Southampton | Low | inland flooding | 2,567 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in August–September
The month each of Suffolk County’s 28 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Fire Island’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fire Island.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Fire Island, expected losses total about $5.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Fire Island.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Weather alerts: National Weather Service. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.