Natural hazards · Penn

Penn, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Penn comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Penn?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Penn to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves17%Tornadoes12%Drought10%Strong wind6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Penn 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 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 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 Penn flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Parke County.

Disasters that hit Penn

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PennDeclared for Parke County only

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

Around Penn

Penn and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Reservemostly inland floodingHigh

Pennmostly inland floodingLow

Washingtonmostly inland floodingLow

Sugar Creekmostly inland floodingLow

Libertymostly inland floodingLow

Howardmostly inland floodingLow

Adamsmostly 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. Penn 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 Penn’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Penn. 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.