Natural hazards · Jefferson

Jefferson, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Jefferson comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2016.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Jefferson?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Jefferson to be higher than in 7% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding44%Cold waves15%Tornadoes15%Strong wind13%Hail6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Jefferson faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 38 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce 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 Jefferson flood?

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

1paid claims since 2016

$7Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20162026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cass County.

Disasters that hit Jefferson

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into JeffersonDeclared for Cass County only

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

Around Jefferson

Jefferson and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Howardmostly inland floodingLow

Calvinmostly inland floodingVery low

Ontwamostly inland floodingVery low

Jeffersonmostly inland floodingVery low

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