Natural hazards · Bear Lake

Bear Lake, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bear Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1986.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bear Lake?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bear Lake to be higher than in 12% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding61%Cold waves22%Lightning5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Bear Lake 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 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong wind

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 Bear Lake flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Bear Lake, from FEMA’s records.

8paid claims since 1986

$141Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19862026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Manistee County.

Disasters that hit Bear Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Bear LakeDeclared for Manistee County only

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

Around Bear Lake

Bear Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Brownmostly inland floodingLow

Maple Grovemostly inland floodingLow

Bear Lakemostly inland floodingVery low

Onekamamostly inland floodingVery low

Pleasantonmostly 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. Bear Lake covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bear Lake’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Bear Lake. 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 Bear Lake total about $753K 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.