Short answer
Near the Manatawny in Pottstown, the Perkiomen from East Greenville to Schwenksville, and Hay Creek in Birdsboro, plan for water to go through your fence. Open styles such as aluminum, split rail and wire pass floodwater better than solid privacy panels. Some townships limit fences in floodplains or drainage paths. Lower Salford bans new fences in its Floodplain Conservation District, and Elverson bars them from the floodway. Check the floodplain map and your township's rules before you pick a style.
Most of our service area drains to the Schuylkill through one of three creeks, and all three have flood records people here still talk about. If your yard backs onto one, or onto a swale that feeds one, the fence that suits it is probably not the 6 ft solid panel you picture for a dry suburban lot.
The Manatawny in Pottstown
On July 11, 2019, a flash flood on Manatawny Creek hit low-lying High Street in Pottstown and fully submerged Manatawny Park. Residents called it the worst since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Eight years earlier, before Hurricane Irene in August 2011, officials warned the creek could overflow into the King Street area and close roads around Memorial Park. During Ida in 2021, the Manatawny near Spangsville, up in Oley Township, recorded its fourth-highest flow on record.
The 2019 event was a flash flood, the kind that rises fast and carries debris. A fence in its path doesn't just get wet. It catches branches, trash and leaf litter, and the force of the current builds against whatever it catches.
The Perkiomen, from East Greenville to Schwenksville
Ida (September 1–2, 2021) set records up and down the Perkiomen. The USGS reports the creek at Graterford peaked at 64,400 cubic feet per second, a record in 107 years of data and beyond the 500-year flood. The East Branch near Schwenksville also set a record at 18,000 cubic feet per second. Upstream, the Perkiomen at East Greenville had its second-highest flow ever, and Huffs Church in Berks County measured 7.43 in of rain.
The watershed covers 362 square miles across Montgomery, Bucks, Berks and Lehigh counties, and about 85,000 people live in its flood zones. Ida destroyed an estimated 70 homes there. Afterward, 74 Perkiomen-area homes came under FEMA ownership, and the area has had six historic floods since. A $1 million grant is funding a new watershed flood map, and a January 2026 study identified more than 130 flood sites. Among its fixes: keep swales clear of debris.
Green Lane Reservoir, the dam built on the Perkiomen between 1954 and 1957, anchors the 3,400-acre Green Lane Park. Lots downstream through Green Lane, Perkiomenville, Zieglerville and Schwenksville still sit in a valley that floods. The Perkiomen Trail follows the creek through Schwenksville, past Meadow Park.
Hay Creek in Birdsboro
On September 8, 1987, Birdsboro was "ground zero." Hay Creek flooding collapsed part of Route 82, a fire truck fell into the creek, and public damage reached about $5 million. Eastern Cumru reported 13 in of rain. The flood damaged five Route 82 bridges, and in 2004 officials decided not to rebuild the upstream ones. Backyards along Hay Creek need the same approach as the Manatawny: open fences, and nothing that dams the channel.
What the township codes say about fences and floodwater
Rules differ town to town, and several townships haven't put fence-specific floodplain rules where we could read them. These are the ones we've confirmed:
| Municipality | Rule | Code section |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Salford Township (Harleysville) | Fences and retaining walls are prohibited as new permanent structures in the Floodplain Conservation District | §164-97.1A |
| Elverson Borough | No fence or wall within a floodway; fences in utility or drainage easements only if the easement allows it | §290-1111A(2) |
| West Pottsgrove Township (Stowe) | No fence, wall or hedge may obstruct stormwater flow unless part of an approved stormwater system | §20-1.420.B |
| North Coventry Township | No fences or walls in drainage easements or in swales that are part of an approved stormwater plan | §370-74D |
| Upper Hanover Township | No fence inside a drainage easement or placed so it affects proper drainage | §500-814 |
| Colebrookdale Township | The joint zoning ordinance has a floodplain section that specifically regulates fences | §510 |
We haven't read the full text of Colebrookdale's §510 fence clause, and North Coventry's floodplain district doesn't mention fences directly, so we confirm those with the township first.
In Pottstown Borough, Schwenksville, Green Lane and Birdsboro, we haven't confirmed a fence-specific floodplain rule. That doesn't mean there isn't one. Floodplain ordinances often sit in a separate chapter from the fence section. We check with the zoning office for any lot that touches a mapped floodplain.
FEMA maps aren't the whole story. The Berks County regional plan notes that alluvial soils such as Holly and Middlebury can mark floodplains wider than FEMA's maps show. If your yard has dark, silty creek-bottom soil and stays soggy after rain, treat it as flood-prone even if the map line falls short of it.
Choosing a fence for a lot that floods
If water reaches your fence a few times a decade, design for that. In rough order of how well they handle floodwater:
- Split rail. Water and most debris pass straight through. Rails that float off can be dropped back into their mortises. Add welded wire for a dog only where you can accept some cleanup after a flood.
- Aluminum. Open pickets, no rot, and racked panels that follow a sloping creek bank. Debris can still pile up against the pickets, but water passes through.
- Chain link without slats. Lets water through but catches leaves and branches, which can turn the mesh into a dam in a flash flood. Fine above the floodplain, less ideal right on the bank.
- Solid wood, vinyl or composite privacy. The worst choice across a flow path. A solid panel blocks water, collects debris and takes the full push of the current. If you need privacy near a creek, keep the solid sections on the high ground and switch to an open style where the water runs.
Layout matters as much as material. Fences that run with the flow (parallel to the creek or swale) survive far better than fences that cross it. Where a fence has to cross a low spot, a removable section or a gate there lets you open the path before a forecast storm and close it again afterward.
Pool fences near the water
Pool barriers are the one fence you can't simply leave open. Neighboring Upper Providence Township, for example, tells pool owners to keep pools, barriers and filters out of easements, floodplains, wetlands and rights-of-way. Read our answer on pool fences in floodplains and easements before you site a pool on a creek lot.
After the water goes down
- Walk the line and pull debris off the fence before it dries and mats into the pickets or mesh.
- Push on each post. Saturated soil lets posts lean, and a lean that sets in while the ground is soft is harder to correct later.
- Check gate hinges and latches. Silt in the hardware is a common reason gates stop latching after a flood.
- Photograph any damage before you clean up, if you plan to file an insurance claim.
If you're rebuilding after a Perkiomen or Manatawny flood, see rebuilding a fence after a Perkiomen flood, and ask the township whether the rebuild counts as a new fence under its code. When we come out for an estimate on a creek lot, we bring the floodplain map and walk the low ground with you before suggesting a style.
Common questions
Can I build a fence in the floodplain in Pottstown?
We haven't confirmed a fence-specific floodplain rule for Pottstown Borough, so we check with the borough before quoting a floodplain lot. Either way, open styles and fences that run with the flow hold up best along the Manatawny. More in our Pottstown floodplain answer.
Will a solid fence make flooding worse for my neighbor?
It can redirect or pond water, which is why West Pottsgrove, North Coventry and Upper Hanover all bar fences that obstruct stormwater or sit in drainage easements. Keep swales and drainage paths open.
Does homeowners insurance cover a fence damaged by flooding?
That depends on your policy and whether you carry separate flood coverage. Ask your insurer; we can document damage and give you a repair estimate for the claim.