Natural hazards · Bad Axe

Bad Axe, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bad Axe comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bad Axe?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bad Axe to be higher than in 7% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves42%Inland flooding33%Tornadoes8%Strong wind8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Bad Axe faces

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

Cold waves

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Bad Axe flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Huron County.

Disasters that hit Bad Axe

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Bad Axe itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Bad Axe.

Brought FEMA money into Bad AxeDeclared for Huron County only

2000

Snow

$3K to the City of Bad Axe for repairs

Huron County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Bad Axe

Bad Axe and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Colfaxmostly inland floodingVery low

Veronamostly inland floodingVery low

Bad Axemostly cold wavesVery 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. Bad Axe covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bad Axe’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Bad Axe. 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 Bad Axe total about $1.4M 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.