Natural hazards · Merrill

Merrill, MI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Merrill?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Merrill to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding62%Strong wind14%Cold waves8%Tornadoes7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Merrill faces

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

Inland flooding

62% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Merrill flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Newaygo County.

Disasters that hit Merrill

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MerrillDeclared for Newaygo County only

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

Around Merrill

Merrill and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lincolnmostly inland floodingLow

Merrillmostly inland floodingLow

Lilleymostly inland floodingLow

Monroemostly inland floodingLow

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