Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Montrose
Montrose isn’t graded for hazard risk: Montrose is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 1992.
What Montrose 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 Montrose flood? Sometimes: 12 flood claims since 1992
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Montrose, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Sandy5 claims · $556K
- Tropical Storm Lee1 claim · $13K
- Hurricane Irene1 claim · $132K
Montrose isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Westchester County.The storms Montrose remembers
None of the 23 disasters declared for Westchester County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Montrose itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 20125 flood claims paidThe year of Hurricane Sandy, declared for Westchester County
- 20013 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 20112 flood claims paidThe year of Hurricane Irene, declared for Westchester County
Westchester County has had 23 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees; the 2001 World Trade Center declarations.
Old photos of Montrose after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Montrose archive →Montrose 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buchanan | A+less damage than 95% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Cortlandt | A−less damage than 84% | river and rain flooding | 74 |
| Stony Point | Bless damage than 62% | river and rain flooding | 77 |
| Verplanck | — | 650 residents; we grade 1,000+ | |
| Crugers | — | a Census area inside a town; graded with the town | |
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 Montrose 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 Montrose
Does Montrose flood?
Flood insurance has paid 12 claims in Montrose since 1992, $794K in all. The most claims came from Hurricane Sandy (5).
Is Montrose 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 Westchester County, 64% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 3.0% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Montrose?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Montrose’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 Montrose?
By flood claims, Hurricane Sandy: 5 paid, $556K.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Montrose.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Montrose’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.