Natural hazards · Spafford

Spafford, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Spafford comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1983. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Spafford?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Spafford to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding71%Strong wind7%Tornadoes6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Spafford faces

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

Inland flooding

71% 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

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Spafford flood?

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

2paid claims since 1983

$3Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Blizzard of 1993: 1 claim, $2K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Spafford 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 Spafford

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SpaffordDeclared for Onondaga County only

2021

Remnants of Tropical Storm Fred

$2.5M to the Town of Spafford for repairs

2011

Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

$24K to the Town of Spafford for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $55K to the Town of Spafford for repairs

2003

Ice Storm

1 household applied for aid

Onondaga County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Spafford

Spafford and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Semproniusmostly inland floodingHigh

Nilesmostly inland floodingHigh

Scottmostly inland floodingModerate

Skaneatelesmostly inland floodingVery low

Tullymostly inland floodingVery low

Spaffordmostly 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. Spafford covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Spafford’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Spafford. 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 Spafford total about $412K 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.