Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Honey Brook

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Honey Brook Chesco PAPhoto: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0
A+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Honey Brook · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Honey Brook faces less hazard damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Honey Brook gets an A+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (75%), then earthquakes (10%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 75%Earthquakes 10%Hurricanes 7%

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 97%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
A+
in Pennsylvania · lower than 97% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
75% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
4
of 21 declared for Chester County
By hazard

What Honey Brook 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

75%of expected building damage
Well below average · lower than 86% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

10%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. census tracts

Hurricanes

7%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Tornadoes

5%of expected building damage
About average · lower than 53% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Strong wind Winter storms Ice storms Lightning Hail 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 heat waves at 10% of Honey Brook’s expected losses. Heat 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 Honey Brook’s grade

River and rain flooding is 75% of the building damage FEMA expects in Honey Brook, and Honey Brook’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 86% of U.S. census tracts. Next is earthquakes at 10% (higher than 65% of U.S. census tracts).

Where Honey Brook sits
Honey Brook
Least damageMiddleMost damage

A+ lower expected damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding75%Earthquakes10%Hurricanes7%Everything else8%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $311K a year in losses across Honey Brook: $201K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Honey Brook’s 1,892 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 town’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 Honey Brook flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Honey Brook. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Honey Brook 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

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Honey Brook

Disasters that paid out in Honey Brook itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Borough of Honey Brook), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2021Remnants of Hurricane Ida30 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
  2. 2011Tropical Storm Lee6 households applied for aid$805 aid approved
  3. 2011Hurricane Irene5 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
  4. 2003Tropical Storms Henri and Isabel and Related Severe Storms and Flooding1 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Honey BrookChester 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 Honey Brook after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Honey Brook archive →
Be ready

Get ready for what Honey Brook 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 ↗
Earthquakes
  • Drop, cover and hold on.
  • Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
  • Know how to shut off the gas.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Hurricane season
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Tornado warnings
  • Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
  • A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
  • Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
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 Honey Brook

Is Honey Brook at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Honey Brook has lower expected damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns: A+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (75%) and earthquakes (10%). 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.

Is Honey Brook 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 Honey Brook?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Honey Brook’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 Honey Brook?

By FEMA money that reached Honey Brook, Hurricane Irene (2011): 5 households applied for aid, $4K approved.

Is Honey Brook at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (75%), and Honey Brook’s rate for it is lower than 86% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Honey Brook.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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