Natural hazards · Seward

Seward, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Seward comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2020.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Seward?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Seward to be higher than in 15% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding36%Tornadoes23%Cold waves20%Strong wind9%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Seward faces

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

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Seward flood?

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

1paid claims since 2020

$975paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20202026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kosciusko County.

Disasters that hit Seward

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SewardDeclared for Kosciusko County only

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

Around Seward

Seward and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pleasantmostly inland floodingLow

Claymostly inland floodingLow

Lakemostly inland floodingVery low

Sewardmostly inland floodingVery low

Franklinmostly inland floodingVery low

Harrisonmostly inland floodingVery 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. Seward covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Seward’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Seward. 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 Seward total about $870K 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.