Natural hazards · Lancaster

Lancaster, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lancaster comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 2003.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lancaster?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lancaster to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding51%Tornadoes18%Strong wind8%Cold waves6%Drought6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Lancaster faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Lancaster flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Lancaster, from FEMA’s records.

16paid claims since 2003

$332Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20032026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Huntington County.

Disasters that hit Lancaster

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Huntington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lancaster itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into LancasterDeclared for Huntington County only

Huntington County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Lancaster

Lancaster and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jeffersonmostly inland floodingModerate

Lancastermostly inland floodingModerate

Polkmostly inland floodingModerate

Huntingtonmostly inland floodingModerate

Rock Creekmostly inland floodingLow

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. Lancaster covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Lancaster total about $1.6M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.