Natural hazards · Abbottstown

Abbottstown, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Abbottstown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1978. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Abbottstown?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Abbottstown to be higher than in 19% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding64%Hurricanes13%Tornadoes5%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Abbottstown faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Abbottstown flood?

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

7paid claims since 1978

$88Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ida: 1 claim, $26K
Tropical Storm Lee: 1 claim, $5K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Adams County.

Disasters that hit Abbottstown

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AbbottstownDeclared for Adams County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

8 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Adams County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Abbottstown

Abbottstown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hamiltonmostly inland floodingLow

Paradisemostly inland floodingLow

Abbottstownmostly inland floodingVery low

Berwickmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Abbottstown 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 Abbottstown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Abbottstown. 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.