Natural hazards · Hickory

Hickory, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hickory comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 14 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hickory?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hickory to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding83%Lightning11%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Hickory faces

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

Inland flooding

83% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lightning

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Hickory flood?

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

14paid claims since 1978

$88Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19782026

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

Insurance rates: Forest County.

Disasters that hit Hickory

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HickoryDeclared for Forest County only

Forest County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Hickory

Hickory and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Limestonemostly inland floodingVery high

Hickorymostly inland floodingHigh

Harmonymostly inland floodingHigh

Kingsleymostly inland floodingHigh

Greenmostly inland floodingHigh

Tionestamostly inland floodingHigh

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