Natural hazards · Shickshinny

Shickshinny, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shickshinny comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 401 claims here since 1978. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Shickshinny?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shickshinny to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding84%Cold waves6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Shickshinny faces

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

Inland flooding

84% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% 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 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 Shickshinny flood?

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

401paid claims since 1978

$9.4Mpaid to owners

44homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 84 claims, $5.9M
Tropical Storm Ivan: 60 claims, $1.3M
Torrential rain: 9 claims, $36K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (20) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Shickshinny 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

48flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Shickshinny

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ShickshinnyDeclared for Luzerne County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

305 households applied for aid $1.3M aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

13 households applied for aid $52K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

124 households applied for aid $102K aid approved

2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

26 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

85 households applied for aid $123K aid approved

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

Around Shickshinny

Shickshinny and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Shickshinnymostly inland floodingHigh

Unionmostly inland floodingHigh

Salemmostly inland floodingModerate

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. Shickshinny 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 Shickshinny’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Shickshinny. 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.