Natural hazards · Elmira

Elmira, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elmira comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elmira?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elmira to be higher than in 4% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves23%Hail8%Strong wind6%Lightning6%Tornadoes6%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Elmira faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 78 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslides

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 Elmira flood?

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

Disasters that hit Elmira

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElmiraDeclared for Otsego County only

Otsego County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and ice storms.

Around Elmira

Elmira and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hayesmostly inland floodingVery low

Hudsonmostly inland floodingVery low

Warnermostly cold wavesVery low

Elmiramostly inland floodingVery low

Livingstonmostly 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. Elmira 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 Elmira’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Elmira. 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.