Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Intercourse
Intercourse isn’t graded for hazard risk: Intercourse is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1978.
What Intercourse 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
Earthquakes
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 Intercourse flood? Rarely: 8 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Intercourse, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Floyd1 claim · $2K
Intercourse isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Lancaster County.The storms Intercourse remembers
None of the 18 disasters declared for Lancaster County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Intercourse itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 19792 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 19962 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Lancaster County
- 20012 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Lancaster County has had 18 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Intercourse after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Intercourse archive →Get ready for what Intercourse 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Intercourse
Does Intercourse flood?
Flood insurance has paid 8 claims in Intercourse since 1978, $63K in all. The most claims came from Hurricane Floyd (1).
Is Intercourse 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 Lancaster County, 27% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.4% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Intercourse?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Intercourse’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 Intercourse?
By flood claims, Hurricane Floyd: 1 paid, $2K.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Intercourse.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Intercourse’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.