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BEECHDALE COVERED BRIDGEPhoto: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
A+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Brothersvalley Township · FEMA

FEMA expects less hazard damage per building in Brothersvalley Township than almost anywhere in the U.S., mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Brothersvalley Township gets an A+ for hazard risk: among the lowest expected damage per building of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (83%). Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1996.

River and rain flooding 83%Hurricanes 5%Tornadoes 4%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

among the lowestof U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
A+
in Pennsylvania · among the lowest of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
83% of expected building damage
Flood claims
2
paid since 1996 · $19K
Flood claims per home
2 per 1,000
fewer than 59% of U.S. towns
By hazard

What Brothersvalley Township faces

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

River and rain flooding

83%of expected building damage
Well below average · lower than 93% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Hurricanes Tornadoes Earthquakes Hail Strong wind Winter storms Wildfire Ice storms Lightning Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Brothersvalley Township’s grade

River and rain flooding is 83% of the building damage FEMA expects in Brothersvalley Township, and Brothersvalley Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 93% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Brothersvalley Township sits
Brothersvalley Township
Least damageMiddleMost damage

A+ among the lowest expected damage per building of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Brothersvalley Township’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding83%Hurricanes5%Tornadoes4%Everything else8%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $383K a year in losses across Brothersvalley Township: $302K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Brothersvalley Township’s 2,379 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Berlin borough (2,003 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the township’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Brothersvalley Township flood? Rarely: 2 flood claims since 1996

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Brothersvalley Township, from FEMA’s records: 2.2 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 59% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1996: 1 claim1997: 0 claims1998: 0 claims1999: 0 claims2000: 0 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 0 claims2003: 0 claims2004: 0 claims2005: 1 claim2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 0 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims19962005
19962026
2
paid claims since 1996
$19K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$9K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Brothersvalley Township isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Somerset County.
Disasters

The storms Brothersvalley Township remembers

None of the 17 disasters declared for Somerset County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Brothersvalley Township itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 19961 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Somerset County
  2. 20051 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Brothersvalley TownshipSomerset County only

Somerset County has had 17 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

Old photos of Brothersvalley Township after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Brothersvalley Township archive →
Next door

Brothersvalley Township and its neighbors

Brothersvalley Township has the lowest expected damage per building of the 4 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Northampton Township: not gradedAllegheny Township: not gradedStonycreek Township: hazard risk ASomerset Township: hazard risk A+Summit Township: hazard risk B−Black Township: not gradedLarimer Township: not gradedNorthampton TownshipAllegheny TownshipStonycreek TownshipSomerset TownshipSummit TownshipBlack TownshipLarimer TownshipBrothersvalley Township
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Brothersvalley TownshipA+among the lowest damageriver and rain flooding2
Somerset TownshipA+less damage than 98%river and rain flooding13
Stonycreek TownshipAless damage than 94%river and rain flooding5
Summit TownshipB−less damage than 50%river and rain flooding56
Northampton Township—336 residents; we grade 1,000+
Allegheny Township—786 residents; we grade 1,000+
Black Township—849 residents; we grade 1,000+
Larimer Township—520 residents; we grade 1,000+

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Brothersvalley Township faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
  • Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
  • Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
  • Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
  • Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Brothersvalley Township

Is Brothersvalley Township at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Brothersvalley Township has among the lowest expected damage per building of U.S. towns: A+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (83%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Brothersvalley Township flood?

Flood insurance has paid 2 claims in Brothersvalley Township since 1996, $19K in all, or 2.2 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 59% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Is Brothersvalley Township in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Somerset County, 16% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Brothersvalley Township?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Brothersvalley Township’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Brothersvalley Township at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (83%), and Brothersvalley Township’s rate for it is lower than 93% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Brothersvalley Township.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Brothersvalley Township’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.