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Natural hazards · Brookline

Brookline, VT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brookline comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2011. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Brookline?

63
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brookline to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding78%Cold waves10%Everything else12%
By hazard

What Brookline 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 84% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Brookline flood?

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

4paid claims since 2011
$627Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20112026

Biggest named events

  • Vermont/New York Flooding: 2 claims, $280K
  • Hurricane Irene: 2 claims, $347K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Brookline 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 Brookline

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrooklineDeclared for Windham County only
2023

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

7 households applied for aid $8K aid approved $501K to the Town of Brookline for repairs
2021

Severe Storm and Flooding

$188K to the Town of Brookline for repairs
2011

Tropical Storm Irene

20 households applied for aid $39K aid approved $39K to the Town of Brookline for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$17K to the Town of Brookline for repairs
2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$15K to the Town of Brookline for repairs
Windham County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Brookline

Brookline and the towns around it

Newfane: High, mostly inland floodingPutney: Low, mostly inland floodingWestminster: Low, mostly inland floodingDummerston: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDover: Very low, mostly inland floodingWardsboro: Very low, mostly inland floodingTownshend: High, mostly inland floodingWestmoreland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWalpole: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRockingham: High, mostly inland floodingWestminster: Low, mostly inland floodingAthens: High, mostly inland floodingBellows Falls: High, mostly inland floodingBrookline: High, mostly inland flooding BrooklineNewfanePutneyWestminster
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Newfanemostly inland floodingHigh
Brooklinemostly inland floodingHigh
Westminstermostly inland floodingLow
Putneymostly 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. Brookline is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Brookline’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Brookline. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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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You’re in Brookline, VTWindham CountyView boundary

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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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