Natural hazards · Mount Penn

Mount Penn, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Penn comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Penn?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Penn to be higher than in 11% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding41%Cold waves13%Hurricanes11%Tornadoes9%Heat waves7%Strong wind7%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Mount Penn faces

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

Inland flooding

41% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningAvalanches

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 Mount Penn flood?

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

2paid claims since 1978

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Berks County.

Disasters that hit Mount Penn

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mount PennDeclared for Berks County only

Berks County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Mount Penn

Mount Penn and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Readingmostly inland floodingLow

St. Lawrencemostly inland floodingLow

Lower Alsacemostly inland floodingLow

Exetermostly inland floodingLow

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