Natural hazards · Skaneateles

Skaneateles, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Skaneateles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1978. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Skaneateles?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Skaneateles to be higher than in 9% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding72%Strong wind7%Tornadoes7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Skaneateles faces

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

Inland flooding

72% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

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 Skaneateles flood?

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

4paid claims since 1978

$24Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Fred: 1 claim, $2K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Skaneateles 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 Skaneateles

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SkaneatelesDeclared for Onondaga County only

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2003

Ice Storm

9 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $17K to the Village of Skaneateles for repairs

Onondaga County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods 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. Skaneateles 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 Skaneateles’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Skaneateles. 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.