Natural hazards · Bellows Falls

Bellows Falls, VT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bellows Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bellows Falls?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bellows Falls to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding78%Cold waves8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Bellows Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

78% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Bellows Falls flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Windham County.

Disasters that hit Bellows Falls

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Bellows Falls itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Village of Bellows Falls.

Brought FEMA money into Bellows FallsDeclared for Windham County only

2023

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

6 households applied for aid $28K aid approved

2011

Tropical Storm Irene

22 households applied for aid $122K aid approved

Windham County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Bellows Falls

Bellows Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bellows Fallsmostly inland floodingHigh

Rockinghammostly inland floodingHigh

Walpolemostly inland floodingModerate

Westminstermostly 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. Bellows Falls covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bellows Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Bellows Falls. 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 Bellows Falls total about $1.4M 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.