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Natural hazards · Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grand Rapids comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 98 claims here since 1979. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Grand Rapids?

43
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Grand Rapids to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding68%Tornadoes15%Cold waves5%Strong wind5%Everything else7%
By hazard

What Grand Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Cold waves

5% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Grand Rapids flood?

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

98paid claims since 1979
$2.6Mpaid to owners
14homes flooded more than once
19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Grand Rapids 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

38flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
1buildings floodproofed
Disasters that hit Grand Rapids

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Grand RapidsDeclared for Kent County only
2023

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

409 households applied for aid $155K aid approved
2013

Flooding

$885K to the City of Grand Rapids for repairs
2005

Hurricane Katrina Evacuation

$16K to the City of Grand Rapids for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

70 households applied for aid $42K aid approved
2000

Snow

$63K to the City of Grand Rapids for repairs
1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$95K to the City of Grand Rapids for repairs
Kent County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids and the towns around it

Walker: Very low, mostly inland floodingGrand Rapids: Very low, mostly inland floodingWyoming: Very low, mostly inland floodingEast Grand Rapids: Very low, mostly inland floodingKentwood: Very low, mostly inland floodingGrandville: Very low, mostly inland floodingTallmadge: Low, mostly inland floodingAlpine: Very low, mostly inland floodingAda: Low, mostly inland floodingPlainfield: Low, mostly inland floodingCascade: Very low, mostly inland floodingByron: Very low, mostly inland floodingGeorgetown: Very low, mostly inland floodingGaines: Very low, mostly inland floodingGrand Rapids: Moderate, mostly inland flooding Grand RapidsWalkerGrand RapidsWyomingEast Grand RapidsKentwood
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Grand Rapidsmostly inland floodingModerate
Wyomingmostly inland floodingVery low
Kentwoodmostly inland floodingVery low
East Grand Rapidsmostly inland floodingVery low
Walkermostly 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. Grand Rapids covers 51 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Grand Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Grand Rapids. 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 Grand Rapids total about $48.2M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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