Natural hazards · Mars

Mars, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mars comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1978. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mars?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mars to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding88%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Mars faces

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

Inland flooding

88% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times 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 Mars flood?

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

5paid claims since 1978

$152Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 claims, $148K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Butler County.

Disasters that hit Mars

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MarsDeclared for Butler County only

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

23 households applied for aid $84K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Frances

2 households applied for aid $860 aid approved

Butler County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

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