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B+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Franklin Township · FEMA

Less hazard damage per building is expected in Franklin Township than in 70% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Franklin Township gets a B+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns, #524 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (87%). Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2004.

River and rain flooding 87%Earthquakes 4%Hurricanes 4%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

less than 70%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade#524 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania
Hazard risk
B+#524 of 1,037
in Pennsylvania · lower than 70% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
87% of expected building damage
Flood claims
2
paid since 2004 · $122K
Flood claims per home
1 per 1,000
fewer than 74% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Franklin Township 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

87%of expected building damage
About average · higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Earthquakes Hurricanes Tornadoes Strong wind Winter storms Ice storms Hail Lightning Wildfire Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts drought at 9% of Franklin Township’s expected losses. Drought does little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Franklin Township’s grade

River and rain flooding is 87% of the building damage FEMA expects in Franklin Township, and Franklin Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Franklin Township sits
Franklin Township
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B+ #524 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania; lower expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Franklin Township’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding87%Earthquakes4%Hurricanes4%Everything else5%

The typical Pennsylvania town has lower expected damage than 71% of U.S. towns; within the state, Franklin Township has more expected damage per building than 50% of Pennsylvania towns.

In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.0M a year in losses across Franklin Township: $1.4M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Franklin Township’s 4,433 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. The flood claims below are the township’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Franklin Township flood? Rarely: 2 flood claims since 2004

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Franklin Township, from FEMA’s records: 1.2 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 74% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2004: 1 claim2005: 0 claims2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 0 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 1 claim2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims20042021
20042026
Biggest named events
  • Hurricane Ida1 claim · $119K
2
paid claims since 2004
$122K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$61K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Franklin Township isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Chester County.
Disasters

The storms Franklin Township remembers

None of the 21 disasters declared for Chester County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Franklin Township itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 20041 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Depression Ivan, declared for Chester County
  2. 20211 flood claims paidThe year of Remnants of Hurricane Ida, declared for Chester County
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Franklin TownshipChester County only

Chester County has had 21 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

Old photos of Franklin Township after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Franklin Township archive →
Next door

Franklin Township and its neighbors

Franklin Township is 4th of the 6 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Elk Township: hazard risk B+London Britain Township: hazard risk CLondon Grove Township: hazard risk BNew Garden Township: hazard risk ANew London Township: hazard risk B+Elk TownshipLondon Britain TownshipLondon Grove TownshipNew Garden TownshipNew London TownshipFranklin Township
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
New Garden TownshipAless damage than 88%river and rain flooding4
Elk TownshipB+less damage than 74%river and rain flooding8
New London TownshipB+less damage than 71%river and rain flooding3
Franklin TownshipB+less damage than 70%river and rain flooding2
London Grove TownshipBless damage than 58%river and rain flooding3
London Britain TownshipCmore damage than 65%river and rain flooding1

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.

Be ready

Get ready for what Franklin Township faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Franklin Township

Is Franklin Township at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Franklin Township has lower expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns: B+ for hazard risk, #524 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (87%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Franklin Township flood?

Flood insurance has paid 2 claims in Franklin Township since 2004, $122K in all, or 1.2 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 74% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Hurricane Ida (1).

Is Franklin Township 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 Chester County, 40% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.6% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Franklin Township?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Franklin Township’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 Franklin Township?

By flood claims, Hurricane Ida: 1 paid, $119K.

Is Franklin Township at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (87%), and Franklin Township’s rate for it is higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Franklin Township.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Franklin Township’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.