TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
BerlinGood night
Natural hazards · Berlin

Berlin, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Berlin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Berlin?

52
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Berlin to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding47%Tornadoes16%Drought11%Strong wind10%Hail7%Cold waves7%Everything else1%
By hazard

What Berlin faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage
Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places
Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Berlin flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Berlin.

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Berlin isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Steele County.
Disasters that hit Berlin

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BerlinDeclared for Steele County only
2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

$36K to the Township of Berlin for repairs
2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

$8K to the Township of Berlin for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$13K to the Township of Berlin for repairs
2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$4K to the Township of Berlin for repairs
Steele County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Berlin

Berlin and the towns around it

Ellendale: Low, mostly inland floodingSummit: Low, mostly inland floodingLemond: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNew Richland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBlooming Prairie: Low, mostly inland floodingSomerset: Moderate, mostly inland floodingOtisco: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMeriden: Moderate, mostly inland floodingByron: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHartland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBerlin: Moderate, mostly inland flooding BerlinEllendaleSummitLemondNew Richland
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Berlinmostly inland floodingModerate
Lemondmostly inland floodingModerate
New Richlandmostly inland floodingModerate
Ellendalemostly inland floodingLow
Summitmostly inland floodingLow
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. Berlin is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Berlin’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Berlin. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.

We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Berlin, MNSteele CountyView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Berlin is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map