Natural hazards · Dauphin

Dauphin, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dauphin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 65 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dauphin?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dauphin to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding84%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Dauphin faces

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

Inland flooding

84% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Dauphin flood?

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

65paid claims since 1978

$676Kpaid to owners

8homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 13 claims, $275K
Tropical Storm Ivan: 10 claims, $148K
Hurricane Floyd: 1 claim, $17K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dauphin County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Dauphin

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DauphinDeclared for Dauphin County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

114 households applied for aid $219K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

12 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

78 households applied for aid $228K aid approved

Dauphin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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