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BHazard risk
Natural hazards in Parkside · FEMA

FEMA expects less hazard damage per building in Parkside than in 64% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Parkside gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 64% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (83%). Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2011.

River and rain flooding 83%Earthquakes 7%Hurricanes 4%

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 64%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
B
in Pennsylvania · lower than 64% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
83% of expected building damage
Flood claims
3
paid since 2011 · $11K
Flood claims per home
3 per 1,000
more than 51% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Parkside 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

83%of expected building damage
About average · higher than 57% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

7%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Hurricanes Tornadoes Strong wind Winter storms Ice storms Lightning Hail Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingWildfireAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts heat waves at 10% of Parkside’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 Parkside’s grade

River and rain flooding is 83% of the building damage FEMA expects in Parkside, and Parkside’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 57% of U.S. census tracts. Next is earthquakes at 7% (higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts).

Where Parkside sits
Parkside
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B lower expected damage per building than 64% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding83%Earthquakes7%Hurricanes4%Everything else6%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $490K a year in losses across Parkside: $344K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Parkside’s 2,321 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 Parkside flood? Rarely: 3 flood claims since 2011

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Parkside, from FEMA’s records: 3.4 per 1,000 homes, more than 51% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2011: 2 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 1 claim2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims20112015
20112026
Biggest named events
  • Hurricane Irene1 claim · $4K
3
paid claims since 2011
$11K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$4K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Parkside isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Delaware County.
Disasters

The storms Parkside remembers

None of the 19 disasters declared for Delaware County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Parkside itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 20112 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Storm Lee, declared for Delaware County
  2. 20151 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in ParksideDelaware County only

Delaware County has had 19 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

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

Add to the Parkside archive →
Next door

Parkside and its neighbors

Parkside is 2nd of the 4 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Brookhaven: hazard risk BChester: hazard risk B+Upland: hazard risk C+BrookhavenChesterUplandParkside
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
ChesterB+less damage than 74%river and rain flooding148
ParksideBless damage than 64%river and rain flooding3
BrookhavenBless damage than 58%river and rain flooding53
UplandC+more damage than 64%river and rain flooding218

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 Parkside 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 ↗
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 Parkside

Is Parkside at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Parkside has lower expected damage per building than 64% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (83%) and earthquakes (7%). 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 Parkside flood?

Flood insurance has paid 3 claims in Parkside since 2011, $11K in all, or 3.4 per 1,000 homes, more than 51% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Hurricane Irene (1).

Is Parkside 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 Delaware County, 39% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Parkside?

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

By flood claims, Hurricane Irene: 1 paid, $4K.

Is Parkside at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (83%), and Parkside’s rate for it is higher than 57% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Parkside.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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