Orange Lake is calmer than 83% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Orange Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1979.
What stands out about Orange Lake’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Orange Lake?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 1,183 of the 1,524 New York towns we cover.
Orange Lake covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
What Orange Lake faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Cold waves
Tornadoes
Earthquakes
Does Orange Lake flood? Rarely: 5 flood claims since 1979
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Orange Lake, from FEMA’s records.
- The April 2007 nor’easter1 claim · $1K
- Hurricane Ida1 claim · $12K
Orange Lake isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Orange County.Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Orange County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Orange Lake itself in FEMA’s records.
Orange County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Get ready for what Orange Lake 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.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- 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.
Most disasters here begin in August–September
The month each of Orange County’s 27 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 Orange Lake’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Orange Lake.
- 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. Across Orange Lake, expected losses total about $2.5M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Orange Lake.
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.