Natural hazards · Gaines

Gaines, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gaines comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Gaines?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gaines to be higher than in 7% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding70%Strong wind6%Cold waves6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Gaines faces

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

Inland flooding

70% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Gaines flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Gaines.

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Orleans County.

Disasters that hit Gaines

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into GainesDeclared for Orleans County only

2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$5K to the Town of Gaines for repairs

2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

$13K to the Town of Gaines for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$138K to the Town of Gaines for repairs

2003

Ice Storm

$8K to the Town of Gaines for repairs

2000

Severe Storms and Flooding

$5K to the Town of Gaines for repairs

1999

Snow

$21K to the Town of Gaines for repairs

Orleans County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.

Around Gaines

Gaines and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Carltonmostly inland floodingLow

Murraymostly inland floodingVery low

Gainesmostly inland floodingVery low

Albionmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Gaines covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Gaines’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Gaines. 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 Gaines total about $1.2M 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.