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Natural hazards · Harper Woods

Harper Woods, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harper Woods comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1980. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Harper Woods?

80
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harper Woods to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding77%Cold waves9%Tornadoes6%Everything else8%
By hazard

What Harper Woods faces

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

Inland flooding

77% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

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 Harper Woods flood?

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

2paid claims since 1980
$2Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19802026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Harper Woods isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Wayne County.
Disasters that hit Harper Woods

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Harper WoodsDeclared for Wayne County only
2023

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1,707 households applied for aid $4.8M aid approved
2021

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

1,201 households applied for aid $1.9M aid approved $94K to the City of Harper Woods for repairs
2014

Severe Storms and Flooding

805 households applied for aid $881K aid approved
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

136 households applied for aid $35K aid approved
1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$11K to the City of Harper Woods for repairs
Wayne County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Harper Woods

Harper Woods and the towns around it

Detroit: Low, mostly inland floodingGrosse Pointe Woods: Very high, mostly inland floodingEastpointe: Low, mostly inland floodingDearborn: Low, mostly inland floodingRiver Rouge: Low, mostly inland floodingGrosse Pointe Park: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDearborn Heights: Low, mostly inland floodingMelvindale: Low, mostly inland floodingRedford: Very low, mostly inland floodingLincoln Park: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWarren: Low, mostly inland floodingHazel Park: Low, mostly inland floodingEcorse: Moderate, mostly inland floodingVillage of Grosse Pointe Shores: High, mostly inland floodingGrosse Pointe Farms: High, mostly inland floodingSt. Clair Shores: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRoseville: Low, mostly inland floodingHarper Woods: Very high, mostly inland flooding Harper WoodsDetroitGrosse Pointe WoodsEastpointe
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Grosse Pointe Woodsmostly inland floodingVery high
Harper Woodsmostly inland floodingVery high
Detroitmostly inland floodingLow
Eastpointemostly 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. Harper Woods covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Harper Woods’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Harper Woods. 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 Harper Woods total about $5.8M 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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