Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Colebrook

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
Colebrook NH 9-15-26aPhoto: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0
DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Colebrook · FEMA

More hazard damage per building is expected in Colebrook than in 88% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Colebrook gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (93%). Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2014.

River and rain flooding 93%Hurricanes 5%

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 88%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
D
in New Hampshire · higher than 88% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
93% of expected building damage
Flood claims
1
paid since 2014 · $31K
Disasters paid out here
10
of 22 declared for Coos County
By hazard

What Colebrook 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

93%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Hurricanes Earthquakes Winter storms Ice storms Tornadoes Strong wind Lightning Hail Wildfire 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 avalanches at 66% of Colebrook’s expected losses. Avalanches 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 Colebrook’s grade

River and rain flooding is 93% of the building damage FEMA expects in Colebrook, and Colebrook’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Colebrook sits
Colebrook
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding93%Hurricanes5%Everything else2%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $5.2M a year in losses across Colebrook: $1.3M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Colebrook’s 2,084 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Colebrook CDP (1,201 residents) and Columbia town (659 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 Colebrook flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 2014

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Colebrook, from FEMA’s records: 0.8 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 83% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2014: 1 claim2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims2014
20142026
1
paid claims since 2014
$31K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$31K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

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

Insurance rates: Coos County.
What’s been done with FEMA grants
1flood-prone property bought out and cleared
Disasters

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Colebrook

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

  1. 2023Severe Storms and Flooding$13K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  2. 2017Severe Storm and Flooding$19K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  3. 2012Hurricane Sandy$11K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  4. 2011Tropical Storm Irene$9K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  5. 2011Severe Storms and Flooding$750 to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  6. 2008Severe Winter Storm$12K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
Show all 10
  1. 2008Severe Storms and Flooding$42K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  2. 2007Severe Storms and Flooding$50K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  3. 2003Snow$5K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
  4. 2001Snow$3K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in ColebrookCoos County only

Coos County has had 22 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

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

Add to the Colebrook archive →
Next door

Colebrook and its neighbors

Colebrook has the lowest expected damage per building of the 1 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Canaan: not gradedLemington: not gradedStewartstown: not gradedColumbia: not gradedCanaanLemingtonStewartstownColumbiaColebrook
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
ColebrookDmore damage than 88%river and rain flooding1
Canaan—810 residents; we grade 1,000+
Lemington—108 residents; we grade 1,000+
Stewartstown—960 residents; we grade 1,000+
Columbia—683 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 Colebrook 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 ↗
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 Colebrook

Is Colebrook at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Colebrook has higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (93%). 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 Colebrook flood?

Flood insurance has paid 1 claim in Colebrook since 2014, $31K in all, or 0.8 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 83% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Is Colebrook 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 Coos County, 11% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.6% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Colebrook?

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

By FEMA money that reached Colebrook, Severe Storms and Flooding (2007): $50K to the Town of Colebrook for repairs.

Is Colebrook at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (93%), and Colebrook’s rate for it is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Colebrook.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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