Ashland · Photo: Richard Koch · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Darrow
Darrow isn’t graded for hazard risk: Darrow has 183 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Darrow faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
River and rain flooding
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 Darrow flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Darrow. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Darrow isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: the county.8 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Darrow
Disasters that paid out in Darrow itself (aid to households or repair grants to Darrow), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Francine223 households applied for aid$509K aid approved
- 2021Hurricane Ida583 households applied for aid$1.1M aid approved
- 2016Severe Storms and Flooding149 households applied for aid$503K aid approved
- 2016Severe Storms and Flooding43 households applied for aid$75K aid approved
- 2012Hurricane Isaac116 households applied for aid$76K aid approved
- 2008Hurricane Gustav361 households applied for aid$544K aid approved
Show all 8
- 2005Hurricane Rita84 households applied for aid$38K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Katrina335 households applied for aid$531K aid approved
Its 2 counties have had 45 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then floods.
Old photos of Darrow after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Darrow archive →Get ready for what Darrow faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Darrow
Is Darrow 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 the county, 45% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 28.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Darrow?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Darrow’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 Darrow?
By FEMA money that reached Darrow, Hurricane Ida (2021): 583 households applied for aid, $1.1M approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Darrow.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Darrow’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.