Natural hazards · Hughestown

Hughestown, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hughestown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1979. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hughestown?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding82%Cold waves7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Hughestown faces

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

Inland flooding

82% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% 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 Hughestown flood?

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

3paid claims since 1979

$17Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 1 claim, $13K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Luzerne County.

Disasters that hit Hughestown

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HughestownDeclared for Luzerne County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

2 households applied for aid $229 aid approved

Luzerne County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Hughestown

Hughestown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Duryeamostly inland floodingVery high

Hughestownmostly inland floodingHigh

Pittstonmostly 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. Hughestown covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hughestown’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Hughestown. 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 Hughestown total about $538K 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.