Natural hazards · Phelps

Phelps, NY natural hazards

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

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Phelps to be higher than in 15% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding73%Drought6%Strong wind5%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Phelps faces

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

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Phelps flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ontario County.

Disasters that hit Phelps

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PhelpsDeclared for Ontario County only

2003

Ice Storm

14 households applied for aid $5K aid approved $29K to the Village of Phelps for repairs

1999

Snow

$3K to the Village of Phelps for repairs

Ontario County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

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. Phelps 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 Phelps’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Phelps. 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.