Pennsylvania: The Storm-Ready Checklist

Shelter & mitigation money

No dedicated state-run storm-shelter rebate or grant program is listed for Pennsylvania in the mitigation data reviewed for this page. Check with the state emergency management agency below for anything new.

NAIC lists Pennsylvania among the 19 states plus DC with a separate hurricane or named-storm deductible in homeowner policies as of June 2025 (content.naic.org/insurance-topics/hurricane-deductibles).

Who to call, before and after

The hazards Pennsylvania actually faces

• Extreme heat

  Peak season: Jul

  Extreme heat kills more people in an average US year than any other weather hazard, and most of those deaths are preventable — the risk concentrates in the first heat wave of the season, before bodies acclimate, and in households without reliable cooling. Checking on elderly or isolated neighbors during a heat advisory does more than any single piece of equipment.

• Hail and derecho

  Peak season: Feb–Aug

  Hail and derecho winds arrive inside the same thunderstorm complex, often with less lead time than a tornado warning because the threat is the whole storm line, not a single funnel. Large hail totals more property-damage claims nationally than any other severe-storm hazard, and derecho wind gusts can match hurricane-force winds hundreds of miles from open water. Vehicles under cover and loose yard items secured before the line arrives are the cheap fix.

• Extreme rainfall and flash flood

  Peak season: Jul–Sep

  Flash flooding is the deadliest hazard tied to rainfall, and most of those deaths are people driving into water they underestimated — six inches of moving water can stall a car, twelve can float one. Rainfall intensity, not just total inches, is what overwhelms storm drains and low-lying roads in a window of an hour or less.

Rules worth knowing

• Winter utility shutoff protection: Winter termination moratorium, Dec 1 - Mar 31, for households at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level, under the Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act (Act 201) (Pennsylvania PUC).

Frequently asked