Natural hazards · Read

Read, NE natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Read comes from hail, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Read?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Read to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail36%Inland flooding20%Strong wind13%Tornadoes12%Drought11%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Read faces

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

Hail

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 37 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Read flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Butler County.

Disasters that hit Read

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ReadDeclared for Butler County only

2009

Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm

$944 to the Township of Read for repairs

Butler County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Read

Read and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Readmostly hailHigh

Readingmostly hailHigh

Ulyssesmostly hailHigh

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. Read 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 Read’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Read. 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.