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Natural hazards · Detroit

Detroit, ME natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Detroit comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Detroit?

30
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Detroit to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves32%Inland flooding27%Hurricanes16%Drought8%Ice storms5%Everything else13%
By hazard

What Detroit faces

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

Cold waves

32% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Ice storms

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Detroit flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Detroit isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Somerset County.
Disasters that hit Detroit

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DetroitDeclared for Somerset County only
2023

Severe Storm and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $6K aid approved
2017

Severe Storm and Flooding

$20K to the Town of Detroit for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$782 to the Town of Detroit for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding

$2K to the Town of Detroit for repairs
Somerset County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Detroit

Detroit and the towns around it

Pittsfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPlymouth: Low, mostly inland floodingPalmyra: Low, mostly cold wavesBurnham: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHartland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCanaan: Moderate, mostly inland floodingClinton: High, mostly inland floodingEtna: Low, mostly inland floodingNewport: Low, mostly inland floodingSt. Albans: Low, mostly inland floodingDetroit: Low, mostly cold waves DetroitPittsfieldPlymouthPalmyra
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Pittsfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
Detroitmostly cold wavesLow
Plymouthmostly inland floodingLow
Palmyramostly cold wavesLow
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. Detroit 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 Detroit’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Detroit. 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.

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You’re in Detroit, MESomerset CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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