Natural hazards · Northwest

Northwest, IN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Northwest?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Northwest to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes24%Strong wind7%Earthquakes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Northwest 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

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Northwest flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Orange County.

Disasters that hit Northwest

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into NorthwestDeclared for Orange County only

Orange County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Northwest

Northwest and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Halbertmostly inland floodingHigh

French Lickmostly inland floodingHigh

Spice Valleymostly inland floodingHigh

Northwestmostly inland floodingModerate

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