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A+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Franklin Park · FEMA

FEMA expects less hazard damage per building in Franklin Park than in 98% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Franklin Park gets an A+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 98% of U.S. towns, #59 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (91%). Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1996.

River and rain flooding 91%Tornadoes 4%Earthquakes 2%

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 98%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade#59 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania
Hazard risk
A+#59 of 1,037
in Pennsylvania · lower than 98% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
91% of expected building damage
Flood claims
4
paid since 1996 · $68K
Flood claims per home
1 per 1,000
fewer than 84% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Franklin Park 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

91%of expected building damage
Below average · lower than 79% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Earthquakes Strong wind Hurricanes Winter storms Hail Wildfire Ice storms Lightning 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 cold waves at 14% of Franklin Park’s expected losses. Cold waves do 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 Park’s grade

River and rain flooding is 91% of the building damage FEMA expects in Franklin Park, and Franklin Park’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 79% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Franklin Park sits
Franklin Park
Least damageMiddleMost damage

A+ #59 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania; lower expected damage per building than 98% of U.S. towns (21,298).

Franklin Park’s residents live in 3 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding91%Tornadoes4%Everything else4%

The typical Pennsylvania town has lower expected damage than 71% of U.S. towns; within the state, Franklin Park has less expected damage per building than 94% of Pennsylvania towns.

In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.8M a year in losses across Franklin Park: $2.2M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

A small-area figure. Franklin Park covers 3 census tracts, combined by where residents live. FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims and disasters below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Franklin Park flood? Rarely: 4 flood claims since 1996

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Franklin Park, from FEMA’s records: 0.7 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 84% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1996: 1 claim1997: 0 claims1998: 0 claims1999: 0 claims2000: 0 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 0 claims2003: 0 claims2004: 2 claims2005: 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: 0 claims2022: 1 claim2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims199620042022
19962026
Biggest named events
  • Tropical Storm Ivan2 claims · $64K
4
paid claims since 1996
$68K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$17K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

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

Insurance rates: Allegheny County.
Disasters

The storms Franklin Park remembers

None of the 15 disasters declared for Allegheny County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Franklin Park itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 20042 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Depression Ivan, declared for Allegheny County
  2. 19961 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Allegheny County
  3. 20221 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Franklin ParkAllegheny County only

Allegheny County has had 15 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.

Were you here?

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

Add to the Franklin Park archive →
Next door

Franklin Park and its neighbors

Franklin Park is 2nd of the 6 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Economy: hazard risk BOhio Township: hazard risk A+Marshall Township: hazard risk AMcCandless Township: hazard risk A+Bell Acres: hazard risk C+Sewickley Hills: not gradedEconomyOhio TownshipMarshall TownshipMcCandless TownshipBell AcresSewickley HillsFranklin Park
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
McCandless TownshipA+among the lowest damageriver and rain flooding35
Franklin ParkA+less damage than 98%river and rain flooding4
Ohio TownshipA+less damage than 95%river and rain flooding4
Marshall TownshipAless damage than 94%river and rain flooding5
EconomyBless damage than 62%river and rain flooding20
Bell AcresC+more damage than 57%river and rain flooding11
Sewickley Hills—672 residents; we grade 1,000+

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 Park 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 Park

Is Franklin Park at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Franklin Park has lower expected damage per building than 98% of U.S. towns: A+ for hazard risk, #59 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (91%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Franklin Park flood?

Flood insurance has paid 4 claims in Franklin Park since 1996, $68K in all, or 0.7 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 84% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Tropical Storm Ivan (2).

Is Franklin Park 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 Allegheny County, 28% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.4% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Franklin Park?

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

By flood claims, Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 paid, $64K.

Is Franklin Park at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (91%), and Franklin Park’s rate for it is lower than 79% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Franklin Park.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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