Natural hazards · Cambridge

Cambridge, VT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cambridge comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 26 claims here since 1982. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cambridge?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cambridge to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding84%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Cambridge faces

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

Inland flooding

84% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Cambridge flood?

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

26paid claims since 1982

$1.3Mpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

Vermont/New York Flooding: 9 claims, $1.0M
December Nor'easter: 3 claims, $28K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lamoille County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

7flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Cambridge

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CambridgeDeclared for Lamoille County only

2024

Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid $5K aid approved

2023

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

60 households applied for aid $554K aid approved

2011

Tropical Storm Irene

5 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

Lamoille County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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. Cambridge 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 Cambridge’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Cambridge. 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.