Natural hazards · Dorset

Dorset, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dorset comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dorset?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dorset to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding60%Tornadoes16%Strong wind8%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Dorset faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 46 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Dorset flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Dorset.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ashtabula County.

Disasters that hit Dorset

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DorsetDeclared for Ashtabula County only

2006

Severe Storms, Straight Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Ashtabula County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Dorset

Dorset and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Denmarkmostly inland floodingLow

Dorsetmostly inland floodingVery low

Cherry Valleymostly inland floodingVery low

Richmondmostly inland floodingVery low

Lenoxmostly 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. Dorset covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dorset’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Dorset. 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 Dorset total about $525K 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.