Natural hazards · Middletown

Middletown, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Middletown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 340 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Middletown?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Middletown to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding82%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Middletown faces

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

Inland flooding

82% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% 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 Middletown flood?

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

340paid claims since 1978

$10.0Mpaid to owners

56homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 157 claims, $8.0M
Tropical Storm Ivan: 79 claims, $768K
Not a named storm: 9 claims, $22K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dauphin County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

69flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Middletown

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MiddletownDeclared for Dauphin County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

1,150 households applied for aid $5.5M aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

24 households applied for aid $21K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

228 households applied for aid $442K aid approved

Dauphin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Middletown

Middletown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Middletownmostly inland floodingHigh

Londonderrymostly inland floodingModerate

Royaltonmostly inland floodingModerate

Lower Swataramostly inland floodingLow

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. Middletown covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Middletown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Middletown. 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 Middletown total about $3.8M 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.