Photo: G. Edward Johnson · CC BY 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Glen Echo
Glen Echo isn’t graded for hazard risk: Glen Echo has 276 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Glen Echo 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
Earthquakes
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 Glen Echo flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Glen Echo. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Glen Echo isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Montgomery County.4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Glen Echo
Disasters that paid out in Glen Echo itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Glen Echo), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2016Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$5K to the Town of Glen Echo for repairs
- 2010Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms$4K to the Town of Glen Echo for repairs
- 2009Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$859 to the Town of Glen Echo for repairs
- 2003Snow$2K to the Town of Glen Echo for repairs
Montgomery County has had 17 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often winter storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Glen Echo after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Glen Echo archive →Glen Echo and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethesda | A+less damage than 97% | river and rain flooding | 55 |
| Brookmont | Aless damage than 94% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Cabin John | Aless damage than 94% | river and rain flooding | 15 |
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.
Get ready for what Glen Echo 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Glen Echo
Is Glen Echo 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 Montgomery County, 51% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.8% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Glen Echo?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Glen Echo’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 Glen Echo?
By FEMA money that reached Glen Echo, Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm (2016): $5K to the Town of Glen Echo for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Glen Echo.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Glen Echo’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.