Natural hazards · Etna

Etna, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Etna comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 239 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Etna?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Etna to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding92%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Etna faces

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

Inland flooding

92% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Etna flood?

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

239paid claims since 1979

$6.1Mpaid to owners

20homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 151 claims, $5.6M
Hurricane Ida: 6 claims, $43K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Etna is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Allegheny County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Etna

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into EtnaDeclared for Allegheny County only

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

134 households applied for aid $639K aid approved

Allegheny County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Etna

Etna and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sharpsburgmostly inland floodingVery high

Etnamostly inland floodingHigh

Pittsburghmostly inland floodingHigh

Shalermostly 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. Etna covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Etna’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Etna. 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 Etna total about $1.9M 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.