All Saints' Church · Photo: Cecouchman · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Cordova
Cordova isn’t graded for hazard risk: Cordova has 448 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Cordova 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
Hurricanes
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 Cordova flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cordova. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cordova isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Talbot County.1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Cordova
Disasters that paid out in Cordova itself (aid to households or repair grants to Cordova), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2003Hurricane Isabel3 households applied for aid$5K aid approved
Talbot County has had 15 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.
Old photos of Cordova after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Cordova archive →Get ready for what Cordova 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.
- 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.
- 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 Cordova
Is Cordova 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 Talbot County, 99% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 9.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cordova?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cordova’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 Cordova?
By FEMA money that reached Cordova, Hurricane Isabel (2003): 3 households applied for aid, $5K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cordova.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cordova’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.