Storms, floods and disasters in Northeast Ithaca
Northeast Ithaca isn’t graded for hazard risk: Northeast Ithaca is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1981.
What Northeast Ithaca 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
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 Northeast Ithaca flood? Sometimes: 10 flood claims since 1981
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Northeast Ithaca, from FEMA’s records.
Northeast Ithaca isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Tompkins County.The storms Northeast Ithaca remembers
None of the 14 disasters declared for Tompkins County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Northeast Ithaca itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 19943 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 19812 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 19861 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Tompkins County has had 14 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; the 2001 World Trade Center declarations.
Old photos of Northeast Ithaca after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Northeast Ithaca archive →Northeast Ithaca 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lansing | Aless damage than 94% | river and rain flooding | 45 |
| Lansing | Aless damage than 91% | river and rain flooding | 1 |
| Cayuga Heights | B+less damage than 75% | river and rain flooding | 3 |
| Ithaca | Bless damage than 63% | river and rain flooding | 14 |
| Dryden | C−more damage than 82% | river and rain flooding | 9 |
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 Northeast Ithaca 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.
- 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 Northeast Ithaca
Does Northeast Ithaca flood?
Flood insurance has paid 10 claims in Northeast Ithaca since 1981, $44K in all.
Is Northeast Ithaca 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 Tompkins County, 1.2% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Northeast Ithaca?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Northeast Ithaca’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Northeast Ithaca.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Northeast Ithaca’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.