Natural hazards · Hamilton

Hamilton, MI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hamilton?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hamilton to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and strong winds.

Inland flooding48%Strong wind19%Cold waves13%Tornadoes11%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Hamilton faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Strong wind

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 25 years 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 Hamilton flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Clare County.

Disasters that hit Hamilton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HamiltonDeclared for Clare County only

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

Around Hamilton

Hamilton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sagemostly inland floodingLow

Hamiltonmostly inland floodingLow

Arthurmostly inland floodingLow

Franklinmostly inland floodingVery low

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