Rensselaer’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rensselaer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 14 claims here since 1979. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Rensselaer’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Rensselaer flood? Sometimes: 14 flood claims since 1979
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Rensselaer, from FEMA’s records.
Rensselaer isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Jasper County.How exposed is Rensselaer?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.
Rated higher than 1,260 of the 1,977 Indiana towns we cover.
Rensselaer is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Rensselaer faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Cold waves
Tornadoes
Strong wind
10 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Rensselaer
Disasters that paid out in Rensselaer itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Rensselaer) and its biggest flood years.
- 2018Severe Storms and Flooding11 households applied for aid$15K aid approved$16K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs
- 2014Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$11K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs
- 2009Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding14 households applied for aid$30K aid approved
- 2008Severe Storms and Flooding47 households applied for aid$75K aid approved$6K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs
- 2007Snow$7K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs
- 2005Severe Winter Storms and Flooding1 household applied for aid$3K aid approved
Show all 10
- 2004Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding1 household applied for aid$596 aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding86 households applied for aid$209K aid approved$93K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs6 flood claims paid that year
- 2000Snow$2K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs
- 1999In-Winter Storm 12/23/98$10K to the City of Rensselaer for repairs
Jasper County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.
Old photos of Rensselaer after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Rensselaer archive →Get ready for what Rensselaer actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in January–March
The month each of Jasper County’s 16 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Rensselaer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rensselaer.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Rensselaer.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.