Natural hazards · Orleans

Orleans, VT natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Orleans?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Orleans to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding86%Cold waves6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Orleans faces

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

Inland flooding

86% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 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 Orleans flood?

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

5paid claims since 2011

$1.1Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20112026

Biggest named events

Vermont/New York Flooding: 3 claims, $1.1M
Hurricane Irene: 2 claims, $25K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Orleans County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Orleans

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OrleansDeclared for Orleans County only

2024

Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

11 households applied for aid $63K aid approved

2023

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

40 households applied for aid $138K aid approved

2011

Tropical Storm Irene

5 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

Orleans County has had 29 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. Orleans 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 Orleans’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Orleans. 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.