Natural hazards · Cascade

Cascade, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cascade comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2009. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cascade?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cascade to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding63%Tornadoes19%Strong wind7%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Cascade faces

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

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Cascade flood?

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

2paid claims since 2009

$41Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Cascade 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 Cascade

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CascadeDeclared for Kent County only

2013

Flooding

$24K to the Township of Cascade for repairs

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

Around Cascade

Cascade and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Adamostly inland floodingLow

Lowellmostly inland floodingLow

Cascademostly inland floodingVery low

Caledoniamostly inland floodingVery low

Kentwoodmostly inland floodingVery low

Grand Rapidsmostly 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. Cascade covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Cascade’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Cascade. 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 Cascade total about $5.7M 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.