Natural hazards · Ryegate

Ryegate, VT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ryegate comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1984. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ryegate?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ryegate to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding77%Cold waves8%Hurricanes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Ryegate faces

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

Inland flooding

77% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 21 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Ryegate flood?

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

10paid claims since 1984

$229Kpaid to owners

3homes flooded more than once

19842026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irene: 4 claims, $138K
Vermont/New York Flooding: 1 claim, $2K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Caledonia County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Ryegate

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RyegateDeclared for Caledonia County only

2024

Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$124K to the Town of Ryegate for repairs

2017

Severe Storms and Flooding

$59K to the Town of Ryegate for repairs

2011

Tropical Storm Irene

$58K to the Town of Ryegate for repairs

Caledonia County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Ryegate

Ryegate and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bathmostly inland floodingHigh

Monroemostly inland floodingHigh

Wells Rivermostly inland floodingModerate

Newburymostly inland floodingModerate

Ryegatemostly inland floodingModerate

Grotonmostly inland floodingModerate

Barnetmostly 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. Ryegate 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 Ryegate’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Ryegate. 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.