Natural hazards · Malvern

Malvern, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Malvern comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2005. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Malvern?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Malvern to be higher than in 1% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding44%Heat waves14%Tornadoes9%Cold waves9%Hurricanes7%Earthquakes7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Malvern faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

14% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Malvern flood?

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

2paid claims since 2005

$23Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20052026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chester County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Malvern

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MalvernDeclared for Chester County only

2021

Remnants of Hurricane Ida

120 households applied for aid $283K aid approved

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

2 households applied for aid $785 aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

36 households applied for aid $31K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid $6K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

4 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2003

Tropical Storms Henri and Isabel and Related Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

Chester County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Malvern

Malvern and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Willistownmostly inland floodingVery low

East Whitelandmostly inland floodingVery low

Malvernmostly 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. Malvern covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Malvern’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Malvern. 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 Malvern total about $553K 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.