Natural hazards · Wheeler

Wheeler, IN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wheeler comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wheeler?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wheeler to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding42%Tornadoes25%Cold waves23%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Wheeler faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 82 years in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Wheeler flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Porter County.

Disasters that hit Wheeler

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Wheeler itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Wheeler.

Brought FEMA money into WheelerDeclared for Porter County only

2026

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $21K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $16K aid approved

Porter County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

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. Wheeler 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 Wheeler’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Wheeler. 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.