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Natural hazards · Otisco

Otisco, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Otisco comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1980. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Otisco?

5
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Otisco to be higher than in 5% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding64%Tornadoes8%Strong wind8%Everything else20%
By hazard

What Otisco faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Strong wind

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Otisco flood?

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

3paid claims since 1980
$7Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19802026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Otisco isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Onondaga County.
Disasters that hit Otisco

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OtiscoDeclared for Onondaga County only
2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$30K to the Town of Otisco for repairs
2003

Ice Storm

$3K to the Town of Otisco for repairs
2000

Severe Storms and Flooding

$31K to the Town of Otisco for repairs
Onondaga County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.
Around Otisco

Otisco and the towns around it

Spafford: Very low, mostly inland floodingLaFayette: Low, mostly inland floodingTully: Very low, mostly inland floodingOnondaga: Very low, mostly inland floodingSkaneateles: Very low, mostly inland floodingNiles: High, mostly inland floodingScott: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSempronius: High, mostly inland floodingPompey: Low, mostly inland floodingDeWitt: Very low, mostly inland floodingFabius: Very low, mostly inland floodingPreble: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTruxton: High, mostly inland floodingSyracuse: Low, mostly inland floodingMarcellus: Very low, mostly inland floodingCamillus: Very low, mostly inland floodingOtisco: Very low, mostly inland flooding OtiscoSpaffordLaFayetteTullyOnondaga
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
LaFayettemostly inland floodingLow
Tullymostly inland floodingVery low
Spaffordmostly inland floodingVery low
Onondagamostly inland floodingVery low
Otiscomostly 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. Otisco covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Otisco’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Otisco. 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 Otisco total about $434K 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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