Natural hazards · Ohio

Ohio, IN natural hazards

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

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ohio to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding63%Tornadoes20%Earthquakes7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Ohio faces

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

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% 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 Ohio flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bartholomew County.

Disasters that hit Ohio

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into OhioDeclared for Bartholomew County only

Bartholomew County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Ohio

Ohio and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Van Burenmostly inland floodingHigh

Ohiomostly inland floodingModerate

Jacksonmostly inland floodingModerate

Harrisonmostly inland floodingModerate

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