Natural hazards · Bay

Bay, MI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bay?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bay to be higher than in 3% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding47%Cold waves43%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Bay faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

43% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Bay flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Charlevoix County.

Disasters that hit Bay

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BayDeclared for Charlevoix County only

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

Around Bay

Bay and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Baymostly inland floodingVery low

Resortmostly inland floodingVery low

Evangelinemostly inland floodingVery low

Hayesmostly 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. Bay covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bay’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Bay. 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 Bay total about $714K 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.