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LITTLE GAP COVERED BRIDGEPhoto: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
CHazard risk
Natural hazards in Lower Towamensing Township · FEMA

FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Lower Towamensing Township than in 70% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lower Towamensing Township gets a C for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns, #915 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%Hurricanes 4%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 70%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade#915 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania
Hazard risk
C#915 of 1,037
in Pennsylvania · higher than 70% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
91% of expected building damage
Flood claims
4
paid since 1996 · $21K
Flooded more than once
1
properties
Flood claims per home
3 per 1,000
fewer than 53% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Lower Towamensing 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

91%of expected building damage
Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Hurricanes Tornadoes Strong wind Earthquakes Hail Winter storms Ice storms Wildfire Landslides Lightning Cold waves Heat waves Avalanches top 1%
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 10% of Lower Towamensing Township’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 Lower Towamensing Township’s grade

River and rain flooding is 91% of the building damage FEMA expects in Lower Towamensing Township, and Lower Towamensing Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 84% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Lower Towamensing Township sits
Lower Towamensing Township
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C #915 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania; higher expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding91%Hurricanes4%Everything else6%

The typical Pennsylvania town has lower expected damage than 71% of U.S. towns; within the state, Lower Towamensing Township has more expected damage per building than 88% of Pennsylvania towns.

In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.4M a year in losses across Lower Towamensing Township: $911K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Lower Towamensing Township’s 3,046 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Bowmanstown borough (889 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 Towamensing Township flood? Rarely: 4 flood claims since 1996

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Lower Towamensing Township, from FEMA’s records: 2.8 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 53% 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: 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: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims19962004
19962026
Biggest named events
  • Tropical Storm Ivan2 claims · $12K
4
paid claims since 1996
$21K
paid to owners
1
homes flooded more than once
$5K
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 Towamensing 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: Carbon County.
Disasters

The storms Lower Towamensing Township remembers

None of the 15 disasters declared for Carbon County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lower Towamensing 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 Carbon County
  2. 20042 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Depression Ivan, declared for Carbon County
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Lower Towamensing TownshipCarbon County only

Carbon 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 Lower Towamensing Township after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Lower Towamensing Township archive →
Next door

Lower Towamensing Township and its neighbors

Lower Towamensing Township is 7th of the 8 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Palmerton: hazard risk DBowmanstown: not gradedLehigh Township: hazard risk B+East Penn Township: hazard risk BTowamensing Township: hazard risk A−Eldred Township: hazard risk B−Moore Township: hazard risk A−Mahoning Township: hazard risk B+Parryville: not gradedPalmertonBowmanstownLehigh TownshipEast Penn TownshipTowamensing TownshipEldred TownshipMoore TownshipMahoning TownshipParryvilleLower Towamensing Township
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Moore TownshipA−less damage than 82%river and rain flooding13
Towamensing TownshipA−less damage than 80%river and rain flooding—
Lehigh TownshipB+less damage than 72%river and rain flooding7
Mahoning TownshipB+less damage than 67%river and rain flooding2
East Penn TownshipBless damage than 60%river and rain flooding4
Eldred TownshipB−more damage than 54%river and rain flooding33
Lower Towamensing TownshipCmore damage than 70%river and rain flooding4
PalmertonDmore damage than 87%river and rain flooding34
Bowmanstown—968 residents; we grade 1,000+
Parryville—445 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 Towamensing 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 Lower Towamensing Township

Is Lower Towamensing Township at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lower Towamensing Township has higher expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns: C for hazard risk, #915 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (91%). 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 Towamensing Township flood?

Flood insurance has paid 4 claims in Lower Towamensing Township since 1996, $21K in all, or 2.8 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 53% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. 1 properties have flooded more than once. The most claims came from Tropical Storm Ivan (2).

Is Lower Towamensing 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 Carbon County, 15% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Lower Towamensing Township?

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

By flood claims, Tropical Storm Ivan: 2 paid, $12K.

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

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (91%), and Lower Towamensing Township’s rate for it is higher than 84% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

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

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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