Natural hazards · Spring Valley

Spring Valley, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Spring Valley comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 216 claims here since 1978. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Spring Valley?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Spring Valley to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding58%Cold waves11%Strong wind7%Heat waves6%Earthquakes6%Tornadoes5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Spring Valley faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 4% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Spring Valley flood?

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

216paid claims since 1978

$1.5Mpaid to owners

29homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 34 claims, $53K
Hurricane Floyd: 12 claims, $101K
Hurricane Irene: 10 claims, $91K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (4) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rockland County.

Disasters that hit Spring Valley

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Spring ValleyDeclared for Rockland County only

2021

Remnants of Hurricane Ida

186 households applied for aid $511K aid approved

2012

Hurricane Sandy

675 households applied for aid $122K aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

303 households applied for aid $548K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

57 households applied for aid $44K aid approved

Rockland County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Spring Valley

Spring Valley and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Spring Valleymostly inland floodingLow

Chestnut Ridgemostly inland floodingVery low

New Hempsteadmostly 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. Spring Valley covers 10 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Spring Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Spring Valley. 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 Spring Valley total about $4.3M 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.