Natural hazards · New Castle

New Castle, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in New Castle comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2006.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is New Castle?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in New Castle to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Hurricanes9%Cold waves6%Tornadoes6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What New Castle faces

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

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 74 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 New Castle flood?

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

1paid claims since 2006

$14Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20062026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Schuylkill County.

Disasters that hit New Castle

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into New CastleDeclared for Schuylkill County only

Schuylkill County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around New Castle

New Castle and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Butlermostly inland floodingHigh

Norwegianmostly inland floodingLow

New Castlemostly inland floodingVery low

Cassmostly 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. New Castle 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 New Castle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of New Castle. 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.