Natural hazards · Free Soil

Free Soil, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Free Soil comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Free Soil?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Free Soil to be higher than in 15% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Cold waves8%Strong wind8%Winter weather6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Free Soil faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Winter weather

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 29 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsHeat 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 Free Soil flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Mason County.

Disasters that hit Free Soil

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Free Soil itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Village of Free Soil.

Brought FEMA money into Free SoilDeclared for Mason County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$9K to the Village of Free Soil for repairs

Mason County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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. Free Soil 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 Free Soil’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Free Soil. 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.