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Western Maryland Railroad Viaduct from northPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
B−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Summit Township · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Summit 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, Summit Township gets a B− for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 50% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (94%). Flood insurance has paid 56 claims here since 1983.

River and rain flooding 94%Hurricanes 2%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 50%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 50% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
94% of expected building damage
Flood claims
56
paid since 1983 · $586K
Flood claims per home
63 per 1,000
more than 94% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Summit 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

94%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Hurricanes Tornadoes Hail Earthquakes Strong wind Winter storms Wildfire Ice storms Lightning Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
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 Summit Township’s grade

River and rain flooding is 94% of the building damage FEMA expects in Summit Township, and Summit Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 74% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Summit Township sits
Summit Township
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B− lower expected damage per building than 50% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding94%Everything else6%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $925K a year in losses across Summit Township: $841K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Summit Township’s 2,147 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Garrett borough (415 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 Summit Township flood? Sometimes: 56 flood claims since 1983

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Summit Township, from FEMA’s records: 62.6 per 1,000 homes, more than 94% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1983: 3 claims1984: 0 claims1985: 0 claims1986: 0 claims1987: 0 claims1988: 0 claims1989: 0 claims1990: 0 claims1991: 0 claims1992: 0 claims1993: 0 claims1994: 0 claims1995: 0 claims1996: 9 claims1997: 0 claims1998: 0 claims1999: 0 claims2000: 6 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 0 claims2003: 0 claims2004: 13 claims2005: 3 claims2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 8 claims2011: 1 claim2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 5 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 8 claims2026: 0 claims199620042010
19832026
Biggest named events
  • Tropical Storm Ivan11 claims · $90K
  • The March 2010 nor’easter8 claims · $63K
56
paid claims since 1983
$586K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$10K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Summit 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: Somerset County.
Disasters

The storms Summit Township remembers

None of the 17 disasters declared for Somerset County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Summit Township itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 200413 flood claims paidThe year of Tropical Depression Ivan, declared for Somerset County
  2. 19969 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Somerset County
  3. 20108 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms, declared for Somerset County
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Summit TownshipSomerset County only

Somerset 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.

Were you here?

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

Add to the Summit Township archive →
Next door

Summit Township and its neighbors

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

Black Township: not gradedElk Lick Township: hazard risk ALarimer Township: not gradedBrothersvalley Township: hazard risk A+Greenville Township: not gradedBlack TownshipElk Lick TownshipLarimer TownshipBrothersvalley TownshipGreenville TownshipSummit Township
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Brothersvalley TownshipA+among the lowest damageriver and rain flooding2
Elk Lick TownshipAless damage than 86%river and rain flooding12
Summit TownshipB−less damage than 50%river and rain flooding56
Black Township—849 residents; we grade 1,000+
Larimer Township—520 residents; we grade 1,000+
Greenville Township—810 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 Summit 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 Summit Township

Is Summit Township at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Summit Township has lower expected damage per building than 50% of U.S. towns: B− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (94%). 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 Summit Township flood?

Flood insurance has paid 56 claims in Summit Township since 1983, $586K in all, or 62.6 per 1,000 homes, more than 94% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Tropical Storm Ivan (11).

Is Summit 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 Somerset County, 16% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Summit Township?

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

By flood claims, Tropical Storm Ivan: 11 paid, $90K.

Is Summit Township at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (94%), and Summit Township’s rate for it is higher than 74% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Summit Township.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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