Natural hazards · Jay

Jay, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Jay comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 1989.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Jay?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Jay to be higher than in 87% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding92%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Jay 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 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

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 Jay flood?

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

16paid claims since 1989

$396Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19892026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 claims, $105K
Hurricane Debby: 1 claim, $22K

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

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

Insurance rates: Elk County.

Disasters that hit Jay

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into JayDeclared for Elk County only

Elk County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Jay

Jay and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jaymostly inland floodingVery high

Benezettemostly inland floodingVery high

Foxmostly inland floodingModerate

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