Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Palmdale
Palmdale isn’t graded for hazard risk: Palmdale is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 19 claims here since 1979.
What Palmdale 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
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 Palmdale flood? Sometimes: 19 flood claims since 1979
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Palmdale, from FEMA’s records.
- Tropical Storm Lee10 claims · $794K
- Tropical Storm Ivan1 claim · $6K
Palmdale isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Dauphin County.The storms Palmdale remembers
None of the 17 disasters declared for Dauphin County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Palmdale itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 201110 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Storm Lee, declared for Dauphin County
- 19795 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 20183 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Dauphin County has had 17 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 Palmdale after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Palmdale archive →Palmdale and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmyra | Aless damage than 89% | river and rain flooding | 3 |
| Derry Township | A−less damage than 80% | river and rain flooding | 181 |
| North Londonderry Township | Bless damage than 65% | river and rain flooding | 9 |
| Hershey | — | a Census area inside a town; graded with the town | |
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.
Get ready for what Palmdale 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.
- 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 Palmdale
Does Palmdale flood?
Flood insurance has paid 19 claims in Palmdale since 1979, $868K in all. The most claims came from Tropical Storm Lee (10).
Is Palmdale 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 Dauphin County, 26% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Palmdale?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Palmdale’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 Palmdale?
By flood claims, Tropical Storm Lee: 10 paid, $794K.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Palmdale.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Palmdale’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.