Natural hazards · West

West, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in West comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1996.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is West?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in West to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Strong wind12%Hurricanes5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What West faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 20 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningAvalanches

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 West flood?

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

1paid claims since 1996

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Huntingdon County.

Disasters that hit West

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WestDeclared for Huntingdon County only

Huntingdon County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around West

West and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Oneidamostly inland floodingHigh

Loganmostly inland floodingHigh

Barreemostly inland floodingModerate

Westmostly inland floodingModerate

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