Natural hazards · Plains

Plains, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Plains comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 198 claims here since 1978. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Plains?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Plains to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding78%Cold waves8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Plains faces

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

Inland flooding

78% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Plains flood?

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

198paid claims since 1978

$7.6Mpaid to owners

27homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 46 claims, $4.8M
Tropical Storm Ivan: 27 claims, $1.1M
Not a named storm: 1 claim, $1K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (9) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Luzerne County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

42flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Plains

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Plains itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Plains.

Brought FEMA money into PlainsDeclared for Luzerne County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

58 households applied for aid $319K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

18 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $975 aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

15 households applied for aid $37K aid approved

Luzerne County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Plains

Plains and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wilkes-Barremostly inland floodingHigh

Plainsmostly inland floodingModerate

Forty Fortmostly inland floodingModerate

Kingstonmostly inland floodingModerate

Jenkinsmostly inland floodingModerate

Wyomingmostly inland floodingModerate

Bear Creekmostly inland floodingLow

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. Plains covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Plains’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Plains. 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 Plains total about $3.4M 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.