Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ashfield

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Ashfield Town OfficesPhoto: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0
B−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Ashfield · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Ashfield faces about as much hazard damage per building as the typical U.S. town, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Ashfield gets a B− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 51% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (84%). Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2011.

River and rain flooding 84%Hurricanes 8%Tornadoes 3%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

more than 51%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
B−
in Massachusetts · higher than 51% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
84% of expected building damage
Flood claims
2
paid since 2011 · $64K
Disasters paid out here
10
of 16 declared for Franklin County
By hazard

What Ashfield 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

84%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8%of expected building damage
Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Ice storms Strong wind Earthquakes Lightning Winter storms Wildfire Hail Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 9% of Ashfield’s expected losses. Cold waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Ashfield’s grade

River and rain flooding is 84% of the building damage FEMA expects in Ashfield, and Ashfield’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 69% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 2%, at a rate in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Ashfield sits
Ashfield
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B− higher expected damage per building than 51% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Ashfield’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding84%Hurricanes8%Everything else8%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $537K a year in losses across Ashfield: $441K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Ashfield’s 1,695 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Conway town (1,761 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Ashfield flood? Rarely: 2 flood claims since 2011

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Ashfield, from FEMA’s records: 1.9 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 63% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2011: 2 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims2011
20112026
Biggest named events
  • Hurricane Irene2 claims · $64K
2
paid claims since 2011
$64K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$32K
average claim
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Ashfield isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Franklin County.
Disasters

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Ashfield

Disasters that paid out in Ashfield itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Ashfield), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2013Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding$17K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  2. 2011Severe Storm and Snowstorm$6K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  3. 2011Tropical Storm Irene45 households applied for aid$52K aid approved$606K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs2 flood claims paid for it, $64K
  4. 2008Severe Winter Storm and Flooding$394K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  5. 2007Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding$229K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  6. 2005Severe Storms and Flooding6 households applied for aid$5K aid approved$97K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
Show all 10
  1. 2005Record And/or Near Record Snow$14K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  2. 2003Snow$8K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  3. 2003Snow$8K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
  4. 2001Snow$11K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in AshfieldFranklin County only

Franklin County has had 16 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often winter storms, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

Old photos of Ashfield after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Ashfield archive →
Next door

Ashfield and its neighbors

Ashfield is 2nd of the 2 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Goshen: not gradedPlainfield: not gradedConway: hazard risk B−Cummington: not gradedGoshenPlainfieldConwayCummingtonAshfield
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
ConwayB−more damage than 51%river and rain flooding5
AshfieldB−more damage than 51%river and rain flooding2
Goshen—915 residents; we grade 1,000+
Plainfield—616 residents; we grade 1,000+
Cummington—902 residents; we grade 1,000+

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Ashfield faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Hurricane season
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Ashfield

Is Ashfield at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Ashfield has higher expected damage per building than 51% of U.S. towns: B− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (84%) and hurricanes (8%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Ashfield flood?

Flood insurance has paid 2 claims in Ashfield since 2011, $64K in all, or 1.9 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 63% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Hurricane Irene (2).

Is Ashfield 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 Franklin County, 0.7% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.

How much is flood insurance in Ashfield?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Ashfield’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 Ashfield?

By FEMA money that reached Ashfield, Tropical Storm Irene (2011): 45 households applied for aid, $52K approved, and $606K to the Town of Ashfield for repairs. By flood claims, Hurricane Irene: 2 paid, $64K.

Is Ashfield at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (84%), and Ashfield’s rate for it is higher than 69% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Ashfield.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Ashfield’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.