Natural hazards · Jonestown

Jonestown, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Jonestown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Jonestown?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Jonestown to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding66%Hurricanes11%Tornadoes5%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Jonestown faces

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

Inland flooding

66% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 80 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 Jonestown flood?

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

7paid claims since 1979

$376Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 2 claims, $287K
Not a named storm: 1 claim, $581

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

Insurance rates: Lebanon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

8flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Jonestown

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into JonestownDeclared for Lebanon County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

250 households applied for aid $875K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

40 households applied for aid $92K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

37 households applied for aid $78K aid approved

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

Around Jonestown

Jonestown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jonestownmostly inland floodingModerate

Swataramostly inland floodingModerate

Unionmostly 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. Jonestown 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 Jonestown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Jonestown. 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.