Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Deer Lake
Deer Lake isn’t graded for hazard risk: Deer Lake has 656 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1998.
What Deer Lake faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Hurricanes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Deer Lake flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 1998
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Deer Lake, from FEMA’s records.
Deer Lake isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Schuylkill County.The storms Deer Lake remembers
None of the 20 disasters declared for Schuylkill County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Deer Lake itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 19981 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Schuylkill County has had 20 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Deer Lake after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Deer Lake archive →Get ready for what Deer Lake faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Deer Lake
Does Deer Lake flood?
Flood insurance has paid 1 claim in Deer Lake since 1998, $2K in all.
Is Deer Lake in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Schuylkill County, 17% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.0% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Deer Lake?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Deer Lake’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Deer Lake.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Deer Lake’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.