Natural hazards · Caledonia

Caledonia, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Caledonia comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 15 claims here since 1981.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Caledonia?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Caledonia to be higher than in 16% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding51%Tornadoes27%Strong wind9%Cold waves5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Caledonia faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once 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 Caledonia flood?

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

15paid claims since 1981

$186Kpaid to owners

3homes flooded more than once

19812026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ike: 1 claim, $779

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kent County.

Disasters that hit Caledonia

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CaledoniaDeclared for Kent County only

Kent County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Caledonia

Caledonia and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Thornapplemostly inland floodingLow

Bownemostly inland floodingLow

Cascademostly inland floodingVery low

Caledoniamostly inland floodingVery low

Gainesmostly 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. Caledonia covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Caledonia’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Caledonia. 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 Caledonia total about $3.8M 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.