Natural hazards · Ulysses

Ulysses, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ulysses comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2006. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ulysses?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ulysses to be higher than in 10% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding70%Tornadoes8%Drought7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Ulysses faces

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

Inland flooding

70% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Ulysses flood?

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

1paid claims since 2006

$6Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20062026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Tompkins County.

Disasters that hit Ulysses

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into UlyssesDeclared for Tompkins County only

2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$8K to the Town of Ulysses for repairs

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

Around Ulysses

Ulysses and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Enfieldmostly inland floodingModerate

Ithacamostly inland floodingModerate

Hectormostly inland floodingLow

Lansingmostly inland floodingVery low

Ulyssesmostly inland floodingVery low

Covertmostly 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. Ulysses covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ulysses’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Ulysses. 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 Ulysses total about $829K 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.