Natural hazards · Ernest

Ernest, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ernest comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ernest?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ernest to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding77%Landslides6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Ernest faces

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

Inland flooding

77% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Landslides

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesStrong 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 Ernest flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Ernest.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Indiana County.

Disasters that hit Ernest

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ErnestDeclared for Indiana County only

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

2 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

Indiana County has had 16 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. Ernest 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 Ernest’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Ernest. 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.