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Natural hazards · Yates

Yates, NY natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Yates comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2012. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Yates?

21
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Yates to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Everything else25%
By hazard

What Yates faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Yates flood?

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

1paid claims since 2012
$7Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20122026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Sandy: 1 claim, $7K
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Yates isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Orleans County.
Disasters that hit Yates

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into YatesDeclared for Orleans County only
2017

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$10K to the Town of Yates for repairs
2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

$3K to the Town of Yates for repairs
2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$23K to the Town of Yates for repairs
2003

Ice Storm

$13K to the Town of Yates for repairs
1999

Snow

$26K to the Town of Yates for repairs
Orleans County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.
Around Yates

Yates and the towns around it

Ridgeway: Very low, mostly inland floodingSomerset: Very low, mostly inland floodingCarlton: Low, mostly inland floodingShelby: Very low, mostly inland floodingHartland: Very low, mostly inland floodingAlbion: Very low, mostly inland floodingNewfane: Very low, mostly inland floodingGaines: Very low, mostly inland floodingKendall: Low, mostly inland floodingYates: Low, mostly inland flooding YatesRidgewaySomersetCarlton
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Carltonmostly inland floodingLow
Yatesmostly inland floodingLow
Ridgewaymostly inland floodingVery low
Somersetmostly 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. Yates covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Yates’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Yates. 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 Yates total about $780K 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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