Natural hazards · Marathon

Marathon, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Marathon comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high 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 Marathon?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Marathon to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding86%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Marathon faces

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

Inland flooding

86% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Marathon flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cortland County.

Disasters that hit Marathon

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MarathonDeclared for Cortland County only

2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$6K to the Town of Marathon for repairs

2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

$6K to the Town of Marathon for repairs

Cortland County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Marathon

Marathon and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lislemostly inland floodingHigh

Marathonmostly inland floodingHigh

Freetownmostly inland floodingHigh

Willetmostly inland floodingHigh

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