Natural hazards · Union

Union, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Union comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Union?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding84%Cold waves6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Union 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 Union flood?

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

11paid claims since 1979

$534Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 9 claims, $529K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Union 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.

Disasters that hit Union

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into UnionDeclared for Luzerne County only

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

Around Union

Union and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Unionmostly inland floodingHigh

Shickshinnymostly inland floodingHigh

Hunlockmostly inland floodingHigh

Conynghammostly inland floodingHigh

Salemmostly inland floodingModerate

Huntingtonmostly inland floodingModerate

Newportmostly 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. Union covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Union’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Union. 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 Union total about $1.2M 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.