Natural hazards · Dearborn Heights

Dearborn Heights, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dearborn Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 420 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dearborn Heights?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dearborn Heights to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves20%Tornadoes11%Heat waves10%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Dearborn Heights 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

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Heat waves

10% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Dearborn Heights flood?

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

420paid claims since 1979

$3.3Mpaid to owners

58homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Dearborn Heights is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Wayne County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

104flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Dearborn Heights

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Dearborn HeightsDeclared for Wayne County only

2023

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2,690 households applied for aid $11.6M aid approved

2021

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

2,310 households applied for aid $3.9M aid approved $577K to the City of Dearborn Heights for repairs

2014

Severe Storms and Flooding

1,348 households applied for aid $1.9M aid approved $221K to the City of Dearborn Heights for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

520 households applied for aid $711K aid approved

1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$56K to the City of Dearborn Heights for repairs

Wayne County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Dearborn Heights

Dearborn Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Allen Parkmostly inland floodingModerate

Dearbornmostly inland floodingLow

Taylormostly inland floodingLow

Dearborn Heightsmostly inland floodingLow

Detroitmostly inland floodingLow

Inkstermostly inland floodingVery low

Redfordmostly inland floodingVery low

Westlandmostly 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. Dearborn Heights covers 16 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dearborn Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Dearborn Heights. 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 Dearborn Heights total about $10.8M 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.