Natural hazards · Lafayette

Lafayette, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lafayette comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1981.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lafayette?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lafayette to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding85%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Lafayette faces

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

Inland flooding

85% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Lafayette flood?

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

1paid claims since 1981

$341paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McKean County.

Disasters that hit Lafayette

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LafayetteDeclared for McKean County only

McKean County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Lafayette

Lafayette and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Keatingmostly inland floodingHigh

Lafayettemostly inland floodingHigh

Lewis Runmostly inland floodingHigh

Bradfordmostly inland floodingHigh

Corydonmostly inland floodingHigh

Hamlinmostly inland floodingVery low

Hamiltonmostly inland floodingVery low

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