Natural hazards · Harbor Springs

Harbor Springs, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harbor Springs comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2026. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Harbor Springs?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harbor Springs to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding67%Cold waves24%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Harbor Springs faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Harbor Springs flood?

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

1paid claims since 2026

$10Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20262026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Emmet County.

Disasters that hit Harbor Springs

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Harbor SpringsDeclared for Emmet County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

18 households applied for aid $46K aid approved

2025

Severe Winter Storm

$646K to the City of Harbor Springs for repairs

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

Around Harbor Springs

Harbor Springs and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Harbor Springsmostly inland floodingVery low

Little Traversemostly inland floodingVery low

West Traversemostly 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. Harbor Springs 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 Harbor Springs’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Harbor Springs. 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.