Wantagh’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wantagh comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 854 claims here since 1978.
What stands out about Wantagh’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Wantagh flood? Yes: 854 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Wantagh, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Sandy510 claims · $31.4M
- Hurricane Irene103 claims · $1.8M
- The Torrential rain44 claims · $268K
Wantagh isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Nassau County.The storms Wantagh remembers
None of the disasters declared for Nassau County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Wantagh itself in FEMA’s records.
- 2012511 flood claims paidThe most in any one year on record
- 2011141 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
- 200544 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
Nassau County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Old photos of Wantagh after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Wantagh archive →How exposed is Wantagh?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Rated higher than 903 of the 1,524 New York towns we cover.
Wantagh covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
What Wantagh faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Coastal flooding
Get ready for what Wantagh actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of Nassau County’s 24 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Wantagh’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Wantagh.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Wantagh, expected losses total about $5.7M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Wantagh.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Weather alerts: National Weather Service. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.