Natural hazards · Summerville

Summerville, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Summerville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 13 claims here since 1996. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Summerville?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Summerville to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding76%Lightning6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Summerville faces

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

Inland flooding

76% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong wind

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 Summerville flood?

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

13paid claims since 1996

$179Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19962026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 claims, $10K

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. Summerville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Jefferson County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

56flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Summerville

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SummervilleDeclared for Jefferson County only

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

5 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

Jefferson County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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