Natural hazards · Potter

Potter, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Potter comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2014. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Potter?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Potter to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding76%Drought7%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Potter faces

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

Inland flooding

76% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Potter flood?

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

1paid claims since 2014

$958paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20142026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yates County.

Disasters that hit Potter

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PotterDeclared for Yates County only

2014

Severe Storms and Flooding

$64K to the Town of Potter for repairs

Yates County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Potter

Potter and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jerusalemmostly inland floodingHigh

Pottermostly inland floodingHigh

Middlesexmostly inland floodingHigh

Bentonmostly inland floodingModerate

Gorhammostly inland floodingLow

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