Natural hazards · Glens Falls

Glens Falls, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Glens Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Glens Falls?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Glens Falls to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding42%Cold waves28%Lightning11%Tornadoes6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Glens Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lightning

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong wind

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 Glens Falls flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Warren County.

Disasters that hit Glens Falls

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Glens Falls itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Glens Falls.

Brought FEMA money into Glens FallsDeclared for Warren County only

2011

Hurricane Irene

7 households applied for aid $12K aid approved $28K to the City of Glens Falls for repairs

1999

Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations

$20K to the City of Glens Falls for repairs

Warren County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Glens Falls

Glens Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Queensburymostly inland floodingLow

South Glens Fallsmostly inland floodingVery low

Glens Fallsmostly inland floodingVery low

Moreaumostly 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. Glens Falls covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Glens Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Glens Falls. 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 Glens Falls total about $3.5M 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.