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Natural hazards · Penn Forest

Penn Forest, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Penn Forest comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2004.

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

How exposed is Penn Forest?

7
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Penn Forest to be higher than in 7% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves20%Heat waves11%Strong wind8%Lightning7%Hurricanes5%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Penn Forest faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

11% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 9% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesAvalanches

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 Penn Forest flood?

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

2paid claims since 2004
$21Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20042026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Penn Forest isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Carbon County.
Disasters that hit Penn Forest

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Penn ForestDeclared for Carbon County only
Carbon County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.
Around Penn Forest

Penn Forest and the towns around it

Kidder: Very low, mostly inland floodingLehigh: Low, mostly inland floodingJim Thorpe: Very low, mostly inland floodingPolk: Very low, mostly inland floodingFranklin: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTunkhannock: Very low, mostly inland floodingTowamensing: Low, mostly inland floodingTobyhanna: Very low, mostly inland floodingBear Creek: Low, mostly inland floodingFoster: Very low, mostly inland floodingBuck: Low, mostly inland floodingEast Side: Very low, mostly inland floodingDennison: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWhite Haven: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWeatherly: Low, mostly inland floodingLausanne: Low, mostly inland floodingNesquehoning: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMahoning: Low, mostly inland floodingSummit Hill: Very low, mostly inland floodingChestnuthill: Low, mostly inland floodingEldred: Moderate, mostly inland floodingParryville: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWeissport: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLehighton: Low, mostly inland floodingLower Towamensing: High, mostly inland floodingPenn Forest: Very low, mostly inland flooding Penn ForestKidderLehighJim ThorpePolkFranklinTunkhannockTowamensing
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Franklinmostly inland floodingModerate
Lehighmostly inland floodingLow
Towamensingmostly inland floodingLow
Jim Thorpemostly inland floodingVery low
Polkmostly inland floodingVery low
Tunkhannockmostly inland floodingVery low
Kiddermostly inland floodingVery low
Penn Forestmostly 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. Penn Forest covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Penn Forest’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Penn Forest. 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 Penn Forest total about $2.3M 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.

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You’re in Penn Forest, PACarbon CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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