Natural hazards · Baltimore

Baltimore, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Baltimore comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Baltimore?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Baltimore to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding61%Tornadoes18%Strong wind8%Cold waves6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Baltimore faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 35 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% 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 Baltimore flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Barry County.

Disasters that hit Baltimore

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BaltimoreDeclared for Barry County only

Barry County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Baltimore

Baltimore and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Maple Grovemostly inland floodingLow

Hastingsmostly inland floodingLow

Baltimoremostly inland floodingLow

Johnstownmostly inland floodingLow

Hopemostly 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. Baltimore 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 Baltimore’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Baltimore. 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.