Natural hazards · Berwick

Berwick, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Berwick comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 24 claims here since 1981. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Berwick?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Berwick to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding80%Everything else20%

By hazard

What Berwick faces

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

Inland flooding

80% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Berwick flood?

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

24paid claims since 1981

$349Kpaid to owners

3homes flooded more than once

19812026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 8 claims, $120K
Torrential rain: 1 claim, $8K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Columbia County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Berwick

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BerwickDeclared for Columbia County only

2011

Tropical Storm Lee

211 households applied for aid $591K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

56 households applied for aid $77K aid approved

2005

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2004

Tropical Depression Ivan

13 households applied for aid $19K aid approved

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

Around Berwick

Berwick and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mifflinmostly inland floodingHigh

Briar Creekmostly inland floodingHigh

Berwickmostly 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. Berwick covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Berwick’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Berwick. 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 Berwick total about $3.9M 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.