Natural hazards · Little Traverse

Little Traverse, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Little Traverse 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.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Little Traverse?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Little Traverse 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 Little Traverse 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 Little Traverse flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Little Traverse, 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. Little Traverse 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 Little Traverse

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Little TraverseDeclared for Emmet County only

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

Around Little Traverse

Little Traverse and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Maple Rivermostly inland floodingHigh

Littlefieldmostly inland floodingModerate

Pleasantviewmostly inland floodingLow

Little Traversemostly inland floodingVery low

Harbor Springsmostly inland floodingVery low

West Traversemostly inland floodingVery low

Bear Creekmostly 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. Little Traverse covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Little Traverse’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Little Traverse. 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 Little Traverse 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.