Natural hazards · Brown

Brown, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brown 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 Brown?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brown to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding60%Cold waves21%Lightning7%Winter weather5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Brown faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Winter weather

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 28 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsHeat 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 Brown flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Brown 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 Brown

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrownDeclared for Manistee County only

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

Around Brown

Brown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Stronachmostly inland floodingHigh

Brownmostly inland floodingLow

Dicksonmostly inland floodingLow

Manisteemostly inland floodingLow

Bear Lakemostly 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. Brown 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 Brown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Brown. 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.