Natural hazards · Upper Bern

Upper Bern, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Upper Bern comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2004.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Upper Bern?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Upper Bern to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding60%Hurricanes12%Cold waves7%Tornadoes6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Upper Bern faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 53 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Upper Bern flood?

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

2paid claims since 2004

$186Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20042026

Biggest named events

Torrential rain: 1 claim, $9K
Tropical Storm Ivan: 1 claim, $177K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Upper Bern 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 Upper Bern

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Upper BernDeclared for Berks County only

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

Around Upper Bern

Upper Bern and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

South Manheimmostly inland floodingModerate

Centremostly inland floodingLow

Upper Bernmostly inland floodingLow

Tildenmostly inland floodingLow

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