Buckminster-Kingsbury Farm · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Roxbury
Roxbury isn’t graded for hazard risk: Roxbury has 299 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Roxbury 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 Roxbury flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Roxbury. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Roxbury isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cheshire County.14 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Roxbury
Disasters that paid out in Roxbury itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Roxbury), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Severe Storm and Flooding$67K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2021Severe Storm and Flooding$73K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2013Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$5K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2012Severe Storm and Flooding$10K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2008Severe Winter Storm$6K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2007Severe Storms and Flooding$4K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
Show all 14
- 2005Severe Storms and Flooding2 households applied for aid$803 aid approved$9K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2005Record Snow$3K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2005Record Snow$2K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2005Record And/or Near Record Snow$2K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2003Snow$1K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2003Snow$902 to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 2001Snow$911 to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
- 1999Tropical Storm Floyd$2K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs
Cheshire County has had 27 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Cheshire County, 2016–2016.
Old photos of Roxbury after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Roxbury archive →Roxbury 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrisville | Bless damage than 64% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Keene | Cmore damage than 75% | river and rain flooding | 122 |
| Marlborough | C−more damage than 78% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Nelson | — | 648 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.
Get ready for what Roxbury 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 Roxbury
Is Roxbury 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 Cheshire County, 21% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Roxbury?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Roxbury’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 Roxbury?
By FEMA money that reached Roxbury, Severe Storm and Flooding (2021): $73K to the Town of Roxbury for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Roxbury.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Roxbury’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.