Natural hazards · Alsace

Alsace, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alsace comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1987.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Alsace?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alsace to be higher than in 7% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves11%Hurricanes11%Tornadoes8%Heat waves6%Strong wind6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Alsace faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 13% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Alsace flood?

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

3paid claims since 1987

$112Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19872026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Floyd: 1 claim, $6K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Berks County.

Disasters that hit Alsace

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Berks County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Alsace itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into AlsaceDeclared for Berks County only

Berks County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Alsace

Alsace and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Oleymostly inland floodingLow

Muhlenbergmostly inland floodingLow

Exetermostly inland floodingLow

Lower Alsacemostly inland floodingLow

Alsacemostly inland floodingVery low

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. Alsace covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Alsace’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Alsace. 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 Alsace total about $700K 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.