Natural hazards · Austin

Austin, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Austin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1996. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Austin?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Austin to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding90%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Austin faces

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

Inland flooding

90% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Austin flood?

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

5paid claims since 1996

$126Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 1 claim, $49K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Potter County.

Disasters that hit Austin

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AustinDeclared for Potter County only

2024

Tropical Storm Debby

19 households applied for aid $81K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

7 households applied for aid $16K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $2K aid approved

Potter County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Austin

Austin and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Austinmostly inland floodingVery high

Portagemostly inland floodingVery high

Sylvaniamostly inland floodingVery high

Keatingmostly inland floodingVery high

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