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Natural hazards · Wawarsing

Wawarsing, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wawarsing comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 75 claims here since 1980. 11 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Wawarsing?

69
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wawarsing to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding77%Cold waves6%Hurricanes5%Tornadoes5%Everything else7%
By hazard

What Wawarsing faces

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

Inland flooding

77% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Wawarsing flood?

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

75paid claims since 1980
$2.4Mpaid to owners
20homes flooded more than once
19802026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Irene: 32 claims, $1.4M
  • Torrential rain: 27 claims, $851K
  • April 2007 Nor'easter: 4 claims, $31K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (3) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Wawarsing isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Ulster County.
Disasters that hit Wawarsing

11 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WawarsingDeclared for Ulster County only
2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$53K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2012

Hurricane Sandy

2 households applied for aid $133K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2011

Hurricane Irene

14 households applied for aid $36K aid approved $280K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2011

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

$2K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

1 household applied for aid $158K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

$28K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

5 households applied for aid $6K aid approved $596K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$17K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2003

Snow

$23K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
2002

Snowstorms

$55K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
1999

Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations

$31K to the Town of Wawarsing for repairs
Ulster County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Wawarsing

Wawarsing and the towns around it

Shawangunk: Low, mostly inland floodingEllenville: High, mostly inland floodingRochester: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFallsburg: Low, mostly inland floodingNeversink: High, mostly inland floodingGardiner: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMamakating: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDenning: High, mostly inland floodingCrawford: Low, mostly inland floodingMontgomery: Low, mostly inland floodingPlattekill: Low, mostly inland floodingNewburgh: Low, mostly inland floodingMarbletown: Low, mostly inland floodingOlive: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNew Paltz: Very low, mostly inland floodingThompson: Very low, mostly inland floodingLiberty: Very low, mostly inland floodingRockland: Very high, mostly inland floodingLloyd: Low, mostly inland floodingWallkill: Very low, mostly inland floodingBloomingburg: Low, mostly inland floodingMount Hope: Very low, mostly inland floodingForestburgh: Low, mostly inland floodingDeerpark: High, mostly inland floodingHardenburgh: High, mostly inland floodingShandaken: Very high, mostly inland floodingWawarsing: High, mostly inland flooding WawarsingShawangunkEllenvilleRochesterFallsburgNeversinkGardinerMamakatingDenning
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Wawarsingmostly inland floodingHigh
Ellenvillemostly inland floodingHigh
Denningmostly inland floodingHigh
Neversinkmostly inland floodingHigh
Gardinermostly inland floodingModerate
Rochestermostly inland floodingModerate
Mamakatingmostly inland floodingModerate
Fallsburgmostly inland floodingLow
Shawangunkmostly inland floodingLow
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. Wawarsing covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wawarsing’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Wawarsing. 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 Wawarsing total about $9.8M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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