Natural hazards · Gaines

Gaines, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gaines comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is 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 Gaines?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gaines to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding42%Tornadoes27%Cold waves21%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Gaines faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 92 years in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Gaines flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Genesee County.

Disasters that hit Gaines

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into GainesDeclared for Genesee County only

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $799 aid approved

Genesee County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Gaines

Gaines and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Argentinemostly inland floodingLow

Gainesmostly inland floodingLow

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