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Natural hazards · Upper Paxton

Upper Paxton, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Upper Paxton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 55 claims here since 1979.

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

How exposed is Upper Paxton?

50
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Upper Paxton to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding79%Hurricanes7%Everything else14%
By hazard

What Upper Paxton faces

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

Inland flooding

79% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Upper Paxton flood?

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

55paid claims since 1979
$598Kpaid to owners
5homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Tropical Storm Lee: 17 claims, $364K
  • Tropical Storm Ivan: 3 claims, $17K
  • Hurricane Floyd: 1 claim, $25K

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. Upper Paxton isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Dauphin County.
Disasters that hit Upper Paxton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Upper PaxtonDeclared for Dauphin County only
Dauphin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.
Around Upper Paxton

Upper Paxton and the towns around it

Lower Mahanoy: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLiverpool: High, mostly inland floodingBuffalo: High, mostly inland floodingLiverpool: High, mostly inland floodingHalifax: Low, mostly inland floodingMifflin: Low, mostly inland floodingWashington: Low, mostly inland floodingJackson: Low, mostly inland floodingChapman: Moderate, mostly inland floodingJackson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingUnion: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPillow: Low, mostly inland floodingSusquehanna: Moderate, mostly inland floodingJordan: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGreenwood: High, mostly inland floodingGreenwood: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWatts: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHowe: High, mostly inland floodingReed: Low, mostly inland floodingMiddle Paxton: High, mostly inland floodingLykens: Low, mostly inland floodingWiconisco: Very high, mostly inland floodingJefferson: Low, mostly inland floodingLykens: Very high, mostly inland floodingWayne: Low, mostly inland floodingWilliams: High, mostly inland floodingUpper Paxton: Moderate, mostly inland flooding Upper PaxtonLower MahanoyLiverpoolBuffaloLiverpoolHalifaxMifflinWashingtonJackson
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Liverpoolmostly inland floodingHigh
Liverpoolmostly inland floodingHigh
Buffalomostly inland floodingHigh
Lower Mahanoymostly inland floodingModerate
Upper Paxtonmostly inland floodingModerate
Halifaxmostly inland floodingLow
Jacksonmostly inland floodingLow
Mifflinmostly inland floodingLow
Washingtonmostly 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. Upper Paxton covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Upper Paxton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Upper Paxton. 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 Upper Paxton total about $1.7M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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