Natural hazards · Manchester

Manchester, VT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Manchester comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2021. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Manchester?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Manchester to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding59%Cold waves29%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Manchester faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% 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 Manchester flood?

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

3paid claims since 2021

$34Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20212026

Biggest named events

Vermont/New York Flooding: 2 claims, $23K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bennington County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Manchester

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ManchesterDeclared for Bennington County only

2011

Tropical Storm Irene

3 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Bennington County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Manchester covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Manchester’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Manchester. 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 Manchester total about $1.3M 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.