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High Falls, Chateaugay, N.Y.Alternate Title: Chateaugay chasm scenery.Photo: Buell, A. B. -- Photographer · Public domain
B+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Chateaugay · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Chateaugay faces less hazard damage per building than 74% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Chateaugay gets a B+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 74% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (79%), then earthquakes (14%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 79%Earthquakes 14%Ice storms 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

less than 74%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
B+
in New York · lower than 74% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
79% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
3
of 14 declared for Franklin County
By hazard

What Chateaugay 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

79%of expected building damage
About average · lower than 55% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

14%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 77% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Ice storms Hurricanes Strong wind Winter storms Tornadoes Lightning top 4% Wildfire Hail Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Chateaugay’s grade

River and rain flooding is 79% of the building damage FEMA expects in Chateaugay, and Chateaugay’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 55% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 3%, at a rate in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Chateaugay sits
Chateaugay
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B+ lower expected damage per building than 74% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding79%Earthquakes14%Ice storms3%Everything else4%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $517K a year in losses across Chateaugay: $443K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Chateaugay’s 1,743 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Constable town (1,486 residents) and Burke town (1,421 residents) and Chateaugay village (735 residents) and Burke village (160 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 Chateaugay flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Chateaugay. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of all homes are insured
No community discount

Chateaugay 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

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Chateaugay

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

  1. 2017Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$14K to the Town of Chateaugay for repairs
  2. 2013Severe Storms and Flooding$13K to the Town of Chateaugay for repairs
  3. 2011Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-line Winds$37K to the Town of Chateaugay for repairs
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in ChateaugayFranklin County only

Franklin County has had 14 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees; the 2001 World Trade Center declarations.

Were you here?

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

Add to the Chateaugay archive →
Next door

Chateaugay and its neighbors

Chateaugay is 2nd of the 3 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Bellmont: hazard risk C+Burke: hazard risk B+Clinton: not gradedBellmontBurkeClintonChateaugay
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
BurkeB+less damage than 74%river and rain flooding—
ChateaugayB+less damage than 74%river and rain flooding0
BellmontC+more damage than 64%river and rain flooding1
Clinton—574 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 Chateaugay 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 ↗
Earthquakes
  • Drop, cover and hold on.
  • Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
  • Know how to shut off the gas.
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 Chateaugay

Is Chateaugay at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Chateaugay has lower expected damage per building than 74% of U.S. towns: B+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (79%) and earthquakes (14%). 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.

Is Chateaugay 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, 0.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.

How much is flood insurance in Chateaugay?

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

By FEMA money that reached Chateaugay, Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-line Winds (2011): $37K to the Town of Chateaugay for repairs.

Is Chateaugay at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (79%), and Chateaugay’s rate for it is lower than 55% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Chateaugay.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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