Storms, floods and disasters in Salisbury
Salisbury isn’t graded for hazard risk: Salisbury is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 1980.
What Salisbury 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 Salisbury flood? Rarely: 9 flood claims since 1980
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Salisbury, from FEMA’s records.
Salisbury isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Nassau County.The storms Salisbury remembers
None of the 22 disasters declared for Nassau County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Salisbury itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 19963 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Heavy Rains, High Winds, declared for Nassau County
- 19801 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 19831 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Nassau County has had 22 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 Salisbury after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Salisbury archive →Salisbury 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Hempstead | Aless damage than 94% | river and rain flooding | 189 |
| Oyster Bay | Aless damage than 87% | river and rain flooding | 4,654 |
| Hempstead | B+less damage than 65% | river and rain flooding | 19,033 |
| East Meadow | — | a Census area inside a town; graded with the town | |
| Hicksville | — | a Census area inside a town; graded with the town | |
| New Cassel | — | a Census area inside a town; graded with the town | |
| Levittown | — | 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 Salisbury 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 Salisbury
Does Salisbury flood?
Flood insurance has paid 9 claims in Salisbury since 1980, $147K in all.
Is Salisbury 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 Nassau County, 76% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 9.6% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Salisbury?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Salisbury’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 Salisbury.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Salisbury’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.