Natural hazards · Palermo

Palermo, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Palermo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2009. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Palermo?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Palermo to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Tornadoes6%Everything else20%

By hazard

What Palermo faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Palermo flood?

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

1paid claims since 2009

$14Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Oswego County.

Disasters that hit Palermo

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PalermoDeclared for Oswego County only

2003

Ice Storm

2 households applied for aid $756 aid approved

Oswego County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Palermo

Palermo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Schroeppelmostly inland floodingHigh

Hastingsmostly inland floodingModerate

Palermomostly inland floodingLow

Mexicomostly inland floodingLow

Volneymostly 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. Palermo covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Palermo’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Palermo. 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 Palermo total about $529K 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.