Pen Mar is calmer than 83% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pen Mar comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Pen Mar’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Pen Mar?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 1,990 of the 2,558 Pennsylvania towns we cover.
Pen Mar is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Does Pen Mar flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Pen Mar. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Pen Mar isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Franklin County.What Pen Mar faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Strong wind
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Franklin County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Pen Mar itself in FEMA’s records.
Franklin County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Get ready for what Pen Mar 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.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- 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.
Pen Mar and its neighbors
How storm and flood risk compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | Moderate | inland flooding | 89 |
| Pen Mar | Very low | inland flooding | 0 |
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 September–October
The month each of Franklin County’s 16 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 Pen Mar’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Pen Mar.
- 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.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Pen Mar.
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.