Natural hazards · Berwyn

Berwyn, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Berwyn comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2019. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Berwyn?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Berwyn to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves29%Tornadoes12%Heat waves8%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Berwyn faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingWildfireDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Berwyn flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Berwyn, from FEMA’s records.

5paid claims since 2019

$87Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20192026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Berwyn isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Cook County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Berwyn

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Berwyn itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Berwyn.

Brought FEMA money into BerwynDeclared for Cook County only

2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng

180 households applied for aid $672K aid approved

2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

1,987 households applied for aid $5.7M aid approved

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

419 households applied for aid $1.3M aid approved

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

1,738 households applied for aid $3.5M aid approved

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

37 households applied for aid $26K aid approved

Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Berwyn

Berwyn and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ciceromostly inland floodingHigh

Berwynmostly inland floodingHigh

Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh

Provisomostly inland floodingHigh

North Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Berwyn covers 10 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Berwyn’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Berwyn. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Berwyn total about $27.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.