Natural hazards · Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sugarloaf comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2011.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sugarloaf?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sugarloaf to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding85%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Sugarloaf faces

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

Inland flooding

85% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Sugarloaf flood?

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

5paid claims since 2011

$242Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20112026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 3 claims, $206K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Columbia County.

Disasters that hit Sugarloaf

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SugarloafDeclared for Columbia County only

Columbia County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sugarloafmostly inland floodingHigh

Jacksonmostly inland floodingHigh

Bentonmostly inland floodingHigh

Davidsonmostly inland floodingHigh

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