Natural hazards · Leighton

Leighton, MI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Leighton?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Leighton to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding54%Tornadoes20%Strong wind9%Cold waves6%Hail6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Leighton faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 72 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% 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 Leighton flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Allegan County.

Disasters that hit Leighton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LeightonDeclared for Allegan County only

Allegan County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Leighton

Leighton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Thornapplemostly inland floodingLow

Dorrmostly inland floodingLow

Waylandmostly inland floodingVery low

Leightonmostly inland floodingVery low

Gainesmostly 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. Leighton covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Leighton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Leighton. 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 Leighton total about $1.4M 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.