Photo: JMS Old Al · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Paisley
Paisley isn’t graded for hazard risk: Paisley has 757 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Paisley faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Wildfire
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Paisley flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Paisley. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Paisley isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Lake County.9 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Paisley
Disasters that paid out in Paisley itself (aid to households or repair grants to Paisley), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Milton330 households applied for aid$571K aid approved
- 2022Hurricane Nicole11 households applied for aid$12K aid approved
- 2022Hurricane Ian166 households applied for aid$266K aid approved
- 2017Hurricane Irma528 households applied for aid$222K aid approved
- 2008Tropical Storm Fay18 households applied for aid$12K aid approved
- 2007Severe Storms and Tornadoes14 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
Show all 9
- 2004Hurricane Jeanne135 households applied for aid$239K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Frances220 households applied for aid$316K aid approved
- 2004Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley31 households applied for aid$24K aid approved
Lake County has had 24 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 2 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Lake County, 2000–2007.
Old photos of Paisley after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Paisley archive →Get ready for what Paisley faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Paisley
Is Paisley in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Lake County, 24% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Paisley?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Paisley’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Paisley?
By FEMA money that reached Paisley, Hurricane Milton (2024): 330 households applied for aid, $571K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Paisley.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Paisley’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.