Natural hazards · Madison

Madison, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Madison comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 23 claims here since 1980.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Madison?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Madison to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding94%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Madison faces

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

Inland flooding

94% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year 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 Madison flood?

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

23paid claims since 1980

$498Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Bill: 1 claim, $5K
Tropical Storm Ivan: 1 claim, $16K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Armstrong County.

Disasters that hit Madison

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MadisonDeclared for Armstrong County only

Armstrong County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Madison

Madison and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Madisonmostly inland floodingVery high

Pinemostly inland floodingVery high

Washingtonmostly inland floodingVery high

Madisonmostly inland floodingHigh

Mahoningmostly inland floodingHigh

Portermostly inland floodingModerate

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. Madison covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Madison’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Madison. 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 Madison total about $1.2M 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.