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Pennsylvania Route 147 in Lower Augusta TownshipPhoto: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0
C+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Lower Augusta Township · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Lower Augusta Township faces about as much hazard damage per building as the typical U.S. town, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lower Augusta Township gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (90%). Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1996.

River and rain flooding 90%Hurricanes 5%Tornadoes 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

more than 59%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
C+
in Pennsylvania · higher than 59% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
90% of expected building damage
Flood claims
5
paid since 1996 · $90K
Flooded more than once
1
properties
Flood claims per home
10 per 1,000
more than 73% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Lower Augusta 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

90%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 78% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

5%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 16 years in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Strong wind Earthquakes Winter storms Ice storms Landslides top 4% Hail Wildfire Cold waves Heat waves Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Lower Augusta Township’s grade

River and rain flooding is 90% of the building damage FEMA expects in Lower Augusta Township, and Lower Augusta Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 78% of U.S. census tracts. Next is hurricanes at 5% (higher than 72% of U.S. census tracts).

Where Lower Augusta Township sits
Lower Augusta Township
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C+ higher expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding90%Hurricanes5%Everything else5%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $387K a year in losses across Lower Augusta Township: $329K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Lower Augusta Township’s 1,042 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Upper Augusta township (2,478 residents) and Rockefeller township (2,362 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. 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 Lower Augusta Township flood? Rarely: 5 flood claims since 1996

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Lower Augusta Township, from FEMA’s records: 9.6 per 1,000 homes, more than 73% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1996: 2 claims1997: 0 claims1998: 0 claims1999: 0 claims2000: 0 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 0 claims2003: 0 claims2004: 1 claim2005: 0 claims2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 2 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims199620042011
19962026
Biggest named events
  • Tropical Storm Lee2 claims · $74K
  • Tropical Storm Ivan1 claim · $6K
5
paid claims since 1996
$90K
paid to owners
1
homes flooded more than once
$18K
average claim
Homes that flooded again and again
FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0)Flooded 2+ times
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Lower Augusta 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: Northumberland County.
Disasters

The storms Lower Augusta Township remembers

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

  1. 19962 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Northumberland County
  2. 20112 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Storm Lee, declared for Northumberland County
  3. 20041 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Depression Ivan, declared for Northumberland County
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Lower Augusta TownshipNorthumberland County only

Northumberland County has had 15 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

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

Add to the Lower Augusta Township archive →
Next door

Lower Augusta Township and its neighbors

Lower Augusta Township is 6th of the 7 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Penn Township: hazard risk C+Selinsgrove: hazard risk CUpper Augusta Township: hazard risk C+Little Mahanoy Township: not gradedUnion Township: hazard risk BRockefeller Township: hazard risk C+Monroe Township: hazard risk B−Jackson Township: not gradedPenn TownshipSelinsgroveUpper Augusta TownshipLittle Mahanoy TownshipUnion TownshipRockefeller TownshipMonroe TownshipJackson TownshipLower Augusta Township
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Union TownshipBless damage than 57%river and rain flooding25
Monroe TownshipB−more damage than 53%river and rain flooding208
Penn TownshipC+more damage than 55%river and rain flooding—
Upper Augusta TownshipC+more damage than 59%river and rain flooding106
Rockefeller TownshipC+more damage than 59%river and rain flooding12
Lower Augusta TownshipC+more damage than 59%river and rain flooding5
SelinsgroveCmore damage than 70%river and rain flooding337
Little Mahanoy Township—288 residents; we grade 1,000+
Jackson Township—825 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 Lower Augusta 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 ↗
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 ↗
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 Lower Augusta Township

Is Lower Augusta Township at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lower Augusta Township has higher expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (90%) and hurricanes (5%). 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 Lower Augusta Township flood?

Flood insurance has paid 5 claims in Lower Augusta Township since 1996, $90K in all, or 9.6 per 1,000 homes, more than 73% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. 1 properties have flooded more than once. The most claims came from Tropical Storm Lee (2).

Is Lower Augusta 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 Northumberland County, 15% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.0% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Lower Augusta Township?

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

By flood claims, Tropical Storm Lee: 2 paid, $74K.

Is Lower Augusta Township at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (90%), and Lower Augusta Township’s rate for it is higher than 78% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Lower Augusta Township.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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