Natural hazards · Benson

Benson, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Benson comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1984.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Benson?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Benson to be higher than in 5% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Strong wind5%Lightning5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Benson faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lightning

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesAvalanches

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 Benson flood?

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

7paid claims since 1984

$95Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19842026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Somerset County.

Disasters that hit Benson

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BensonDeclared for Somerset County only

Somerset County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Benson

Benson and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Quemahoningmostly inland floodingLow

Conemaughmostly inland floodingVery low

Bensonmostly inland floodingVery low

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