Natural hazards · Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Notre Dame comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2018.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Notre Dame?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Notre Dame to be higher than in 0% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves33%Inland flooding31%Tornadoes17%Hail6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Notre Dame faces

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

Cold waves

33% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 2% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Notre Dame flood?

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

1paid claims since 2018

$22Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20182026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Joseph County.

Disasters that hit Notre Dame

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for St. Joseph County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Notre Dame itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Notre DameDeclared for St. Joseph County only

St. Joseph County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.

Around Notre Dame

Notre Dame and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

South Bendmostly inland floodingVery low

Claymostly inland floodingVery low

Portagemostly inland floodingVery low

Notre Damemostly cold wavesVery low

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. Notre Dame covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Notre Dame’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Notre Dame. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Notre Dame total about $1.8M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.