Natural hazards · Niles

Niles, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Niles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1996. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Niles?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Niles to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding85%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Niles faces

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

Inland flooding

85% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Niles flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Niles, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 1996

$56Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cayuga County.

Disasters that hit Niles

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NilesDeclared for Cayuga County only

2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

$31K to the Town of Niles for repairs

2004

Snow

$3K to the Town of Niles for repairs

Cayuga County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Niles

Niles and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Semproniusmostly inland floodingHigh

Nilesmostly inland floodingHigh

Moraviamostly inland floodingHigh

Owascomostly inland floodingHigh

Scipiomostly inland floodingVery low

Skaneatelesmostly inland floodingVery low

Spaffordmostly 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. Niles covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Niles’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Niles. 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 Niles total about $2.3M 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.