Natural hazards · Memphis

Memphis, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Memphis comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Memphis?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Memphis to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding55%Tornadoes20%Cold waves16%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Memphis faces

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

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 70 years in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

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 Memphis flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Macomb County.

Disasters that hit Memphis

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MemphisDeclared for Macomb County only

2021

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

2 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2000

Snow

$2K to the City of Memphis for repairs

1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$2K to the City of Memphis for repairs

Macomb County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Memphis

Memphis and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rileymostly inland floodingModerate

Memphismostly inland floodingLow

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