Natural hazards · Carlisle

Carlisle, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Carlisle comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Carlisle?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Carlisle to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding39%Earthquakes27%Tornadoes12%Cold waves6%Strong wind5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Carlisle faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 51 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Carlisle flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Carlisle.

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Carlisle isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Sullivan County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Carlisle

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Carlisle itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Carlisle.

Brought FEMA money into CarlisleDeclared for Sullivan County only

2023

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

6 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

7 households applied for aid $15K aid approved

2005

Severe Winter Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

Sullivan County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Carlisle is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Carlisle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Carlisle. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.