Natural hazards · Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Vernon comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1981. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Vernon?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Vernon to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding48%Earthquakes33%Tornadoes8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Mount Vernon faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

33% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Mount Vernon flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Mount Vernon, from FEMA’s records.

7paid claims since 1981

$119Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19812026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Posey County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Mount Vernon

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Mount Vernon itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Mount Vernon.

Brought FEMA money into Mount VernonDeclared for Posey County only

2008

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid

2005

Severe Winter Storms and Flooding

17 households applied for aid $30K aid approved

Posey County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mount Vernonmostly inland floodingVery high

Blackmostly inland floodingVery high

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. Mount Vernon 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 Mount Vernon’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mount Vernon. 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.