Natural hazards · Lowell

Lowell, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lowell comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 32 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lowell?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lowell to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding69%Tornadoes15%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Lowell faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Lowell flood?

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

32paid claims since 1979

$259Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kent County.

Disasters that hit Lowell

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LowellDeclared for Kent County only

2023

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

20 households applied for aid $808 aid approved

2013

Flooding

$64K to the City of Lowell for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

5 households applied for aid $770 aid approved

2000

Snow

$2K to the City of Lowell for repairs

1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$4K to the City of Lowell for repairs

Kent County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Lowell

Lowell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lowellmostly inland floodingLow

Vergennesmostly 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. Lowell 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 Lowell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Lowell. 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.