Natural hazards · Bern

Bern, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bern comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bern?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bern to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding44%Cold waves38%Tornadoes8%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Bern faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

38% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Bern flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. 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: Marathon County.

Disasters that hit Bern

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BernDeclared for Marathon County only

Marathon County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Bern

Bern and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bernmostly inland floodingLow

Athensmostly inland floodingLow

Johnsonmostly inland floodingLow

Halseymostly inland floodingLow

Deer Creekmostly 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. 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 Bern’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of 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.