Natural hazards · Cotton

Cotton, IN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cotton?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cotton to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes23%Strong wind13%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Cotton faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Cotton flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Switzerland County.

Disasters that hit Cotton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CottonDeclared for Switzerland County only

Switzerland County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Cotton

Cotton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cassmostly inland floodingHigh

Cottonmostly inland floodingHigh

Poseymostly inland floodingHigh

Yorkmostly inland floodingHigh

Jeffersonmostly inland floodingModerate

Pleasantmostly inland floodingModerate

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