Natural hazards · Berkshire

Berkshire, VT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Berkshire comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Berkshire?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Berkshire to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding81%Cold waves5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Berkshire faces

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

Inland flooding

81% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Berkshire flood?

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

10paid claims since 1979

$15Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Franklin County.

Disasters that hit Berkshire

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BerkshireDeclared for Franklin County only

2013

Severe Winter Storms

$51K to the Town of Berkshire for repairs

Franklin County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Berkshire

Berkshire and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Richfordmostly inland floodingHigh

Berkshiremostly inland floodingModerate

Enosburghmostly inland floodingModerate

Franklinmostly 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. Berkshire 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 Berkshire’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Berkshire. 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.