Natural hazards · Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elizabethtown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 15 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 Elizabethtown?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elizabethtown to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Hurricanes11%Cold waves7%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Elizabethtown faces

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

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Elizabethtown flood?

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

15paid claims since 1978

$330Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 10 claims, $292K
Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 claims, $35K

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

Insurance rates: Lancaster County.

Disasters that hit Elizabethtown

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElizabethtownDeclared for Lancaster County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

475 households applied for aid $705K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

7 households applied for aid $20K aid approved

Lancaster County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elizabethtownmostly inland floodingLow

Mount Joymostly inland floodingLow

West Donegalmostly inland floodingLow

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. Elizabethtown covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Elizabethtown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Elizabethtown. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Elizabethtown total about $2.4M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.