Natural hazards · Forest Hills

Forest Hills, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forest Hills comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Forest Hills?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forest Hills to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding71%Cold waves17%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Forest Hills faces

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

Inland flooding

71% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce 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 Forest Hills flood?

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

9paid claims since 1978

$64Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 claims, $40K

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

Insurance rates: Allegheny County.

Disasters that hit Forest Hills

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Forest HillsDeclared for Allegheny County only

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

Around Forest Hills

Forest Hills and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

North Braddockmostly inland floodingLow

Braddock Hillsmostly inland floodingVery low

Forest Hillsmostly inland floodingVery low

Wilkinsmostly inland floodingVery low

Churchillmostly 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. Forest Hills covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Forest Hills’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Forest Hills. 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 Forest Hills total about $1.1M 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.