Natural hazards · Manchester

Manchester, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Manchester comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 24 claims here since 1996.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Manchester?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Manchester to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding90%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Manchester faces

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

Inland flooding

90% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once 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 Manchester flood?

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

24paid claims since 1996

$1.3Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 4 claims, $54K
Tropical Storm Lee: 1 claim, $7K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wayne County.

Disasters that hit Manchester

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ManchesterDeclared for Wayne County only

Wayne County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Manchester

Manchester and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hancockmostly inland floodingVery high

Manchestermostly inland floodingHigh

Buckinghammostly inland floodingHigh

Fremontmostly inland floodingHigh

Delawaremostly inland floodingHigh

Damascusmostly inland floodingModerate

Lebanonmostly 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. Manchester covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Manchester’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Manchester. 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 Manchester total about $1.3M 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.