Natural hazards · Bessemer

Bessemer, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bessemer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bessemer?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bessemer to be higher than in 9% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding40%Cold waves37%Lightning10%Strong wind6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Bessemer faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

37% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lightning

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesEarthquakesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Bessemer flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Gogebic County.

Disasters that hit Bessemer

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BessemerDeclared for Gogebic County only

2018

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$28K to the City of Bessemer for repairs

2013

Flooding

$63K to the City of Bessemer for repairs

2002

Flooding

$18K to the City of Bessemer for repairs

Gogebic County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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. Bessemer covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bessemer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Bessemer. 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 Bessemer total about $895K 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.