Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Speers

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Speers88Photo: VitaleBaby at en.wikipedia · Public domain
DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Speers · FEMA

FEMA puts Speers’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 92% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Speers gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (98%). Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1996.

River and rain flooding 98%

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 92%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
D
in Pennsylvania · higher than 92% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
98% of expected building damage
Flood claims
7
paid since 1996 · $257K
Flooded more than once
1
properties
Flood claims per home
12 per 1,000
more than 77% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Speers 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

98%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Hail Tornadoes Earthquakes Strong wind Hurricanes Wildfire Winter storms Ice storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides 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 Speers’ grade

River and rain flooding is 98% of the building damage FEMA expects in Speers, and Speers’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Speers sits
Speers
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding98%Everything else2%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $928K a year in losses across Speers: $889K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Speers’ 1,088 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Allenport borough (484 residents) and Stockdale borough (421 residents) and Dunlevy borough (371 residents) and Twilight borough (216 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 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 Speers flood? Rarely: 7 flood claims since 1996

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Speers, from FEMA’s records: 12.4 per 1,000 homes, more than 77% 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: 1 claim2003: 0 claims2004: 0 claims2005: 1 claim2006: 0 claims2007: 2 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 1 claim2012: 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 claims199620022007
19962026
7
paid claims since 1996
$257K
paid to owners
1
homes flooded more than once
$37K
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

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.
Disasters

The storms Speers remembers

None of the 11 disasters declared for Washington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Speers 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 Washington County
  2. 20072 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
  3. 20021 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in SpeersWashington County only

Washington County has had 11 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 Speers after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Speers archive →
Next door

Speers and its neighbors

Speers is 3rd of the 3 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Twilight: not gradedLong Branch: not gradedRostraver Township: hazard risk B+Charleroi: hazard risk C−Dunlevy: not gradedTwilightLong BranchRostraver TownshipCharleroiDunlevySpeers
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Rostraver TownshipB+less damage than 66%river and rain flooding43
CharleroiC−more damage than 85%river and rain flooding30
SpeersDmore damage than 92%river and rain flooding7
Twilight—221 residents; we grade 1,000+
Long Branch—458 residents; we grade 1,000+
Dunlevy—326 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 Speers 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 Speers

Is Speers at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Speers has higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (98%). 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 Speers flood?

Flood insurance has paid 7 claims in Speers since 1996, $257K in all, or 12.4 per 1,000 homes, more than 77% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. 1 properties have flooded more than once.

Is Speers 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 Washington County, 16% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Speers?

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

Is Speers at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (98%), and Speers’ rate for it is in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Speers.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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