Photo: User:Smallbones on English Wikipedia. · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Drexel Hill
Drexel Hill isn’t graded for hazard risk: Drexel Hill is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 37 claims here since 1980.
What Drexel Hill 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
Earthquakes
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 Drexel Hill flood? Sometimes: 37 flood claims since 1980
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Drexel Hill, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Isaias4 claims · $292K
- The Mid-spring storms2 claims · $150K
- Tropical Storm Lee2 claims · $11K
Drexel Hill isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Delaware County.The storms Drexel Hill remembers
None of the 19 disasters declared for Delaware County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Drexel Hill itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 200410 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Depression Ivan, declared for Delaware County
- 20204 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 19993 flood claims paidThe year of Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations, declared for Delaware County
Delaware County has had 19 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Drexel Hill after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Drexel Hill archive →Drexel Hill and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Township | Aless damage than 95% | river and rain flooding | 123 |
| Haverford Township | Aless damage than 88% | river and rain flooding | 139 |
| Clifton Heights | Aless damage than 86% | river and rain flooding | 7 |
| Lansdowne | A−less damage than 76% | river and rain flooding | 8 |
| Upper Darby Township | B+less damage than 71% | river and rain flooding | 363 |
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Drexel Hill 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Drexel Hill
Does Drexel Hill flood?
Flood insurance has paid 37 claims in Drexel Hill since 1980, $1.5M in all. The most claims came from Hurricane Isaias (4).
Is Drexel Hill 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 Delaware County, 39% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Drexel Hill?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Drexel Hill’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Drexel Hill?
By flood claims, Hurricane Isaias: 4 paid, $292K.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Drexel Hill.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Drexel Hill’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.