Natural hazards · Buck

Buck, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buck comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1983.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buck?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buck to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding64%Cold waves12%Tornadoes5%Hurricanes5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Buck 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 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 27 years in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 20 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Buck flood?

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

7paid claims since 1983

$163Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Torrential rain: 1 claim, $3K
Hurricane Irene: 1 claim, $24K

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. Buck isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Luzerne County.

Disasters that hit Buck

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BuckDeclared for Luzerne County only

Luzerne County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Buck

Buck and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Thornhurstmostly inland floodingLow

Buckmostly inland floodingLow

Bear Creekmostly inland floodingLow

Tobyhannamostly inland floodingVery low

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