MacDonnell Heights’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in MacDonnell Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.
What stands out about MacDonnell Heights’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does MacDonnell Heights flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in MacDonnell Heights. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
MacDonnell Heights isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Dutchess County.How exposed is MacDonnell Heights?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 804 of the 1,524 New York towns we cover.
MacDonnell Heights is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What MacDonnell Heights faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Dutchess County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching MacDonnell Heights itself in FEMA’s records.
Dutchess County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Get ready for what MacDonnell Heights actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- 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.
MacDonnell Heights and its neighbors
MacDonnell Heights ranks 2nd calmest of 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaGrange | Low | inland flooding | 44 |
| MacDonnell Heights | Low | inland flooding | 0 |
| Poughkeepsie | Low | inland flooding | 45 |
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 July–September
The month each of Dutchess County’s 22 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 MacDonnell Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to MacDonnell Heights.
- 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.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in MacDonnell Heights.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.