Muse is calmer than 98% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Muse comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1992.
What stands out about Muse’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Muse?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 2% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 2,504 of the 2,558 Pennsylvania towns we cover.
Muse covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
What Muse faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Does Muse flood? Rarely: 3 flood claims since 1992
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Muse, from FEMA’s records.
Muse isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Washington County.Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Washington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Muse itself in FEMA’s records.
Washington County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Get ready for what Muse actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Muse and its neighbors
Muse has the lowest rating of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in January–March
The month each of Washington County’s 12 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Muse’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Muse.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Muse, expected losses total about $1.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Muse.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.