Natural hazards · Bolivar

Bolivar, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bolivar 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 Bolivar?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bolivar to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding36%Cold waves26%Tornadoes16%Strong wind7%Hail6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Bolivar faces

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

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

26% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Bolivar flood?

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

Disasters that hit Bolivar

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BolivarDeclared for Benton County only

Benton County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Bolivar

Bolivar and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Shelbymostly inland floodingLow

Bolivarmostly inland floodingLow

Oak Grovemostly inland floodingLow

Pinemostly 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. Bolivar 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 Bolivar’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Bolivar. 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.