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BHazard risk
Natural hazards in Preston Township · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Preston 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, Preston Township gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (91%). Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2010.

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

less than 59%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 59% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
91% of expected building damage
Flood claims
1
paid since 2010 · $13K
Flooded more than once
1
properties
Flood claims per home
1 per 1,000
fewer than 77% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Preston 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
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Hurricanes Tornadoes Strong wind Earthquakes Ice storms Winter storms Hail Wildfire Landslides Lightning Cold waves Heat waves
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 Preston Township’s grade

River and rain flooding is 91% of the building damage FEMA expects in Preston Township, and Preston Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Preston Township sits
Preston Township
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B lower expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Preston 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 else5%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $414K a year in losses across Preston Township: $342K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Preston Township’s 1,000 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Mount Pleasant township (1,439 residents) and Scott township (483 residents) and Starrucca borough (169 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 Preston Township flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 2010

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Preston Township, from FEMA’s records: 1.1 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 77% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2010: 1 claim2011: 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 claims2010
20102026
1
paid claims since 2010
$13K
paid to owners
1
homes flooded more than once
$13K
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

Preston 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: Wayne County.
Disasters

The storms Preston Township remembers

None of the 21 disasters declared for Wayne County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Preston Township itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 20101 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Preston TownshipWayne County only

Wayne County has had 21 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 Preston Township after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Preston Township archive →
Next door

Preston Township and its neighbors

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

Buckingham Township: not gradedScott Township: not gradedMount Pleasant Township: hazard risk BStarrucca: not gradedThompson Township: not gradedBuckingham TownshipScott TownshipMount Pleasant TownshipStarruccaThompson TownshipPreston Township
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Mount Pleasant TownshipBless damage than 59%river and rain flooding—
Preston TownshipBless damage than 59%river and rain flooding1
Buckingham Township—465 residents; we grade 1,000+
Scott Township—434 residents; we grade 1,000+
Starrucca—171 residents; we grade 1,000+
Thompson Township—344 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 Preston 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 Preston Township

Is Preston Township at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Preston Township has lower expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk. 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 Preston Township flood?

Flood insurance has paid 1 claim in Preston Township since 2010, $13K in all, or 1.1 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 77% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. 1 properties have flooded more than once.

Is Preston 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 Wayne County, 12% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Preston Township?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Preston Township’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Preston Township at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (91%), and Preston Township’s rate for it is higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Preston Township.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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