Natural hazards · Onaway

Onaway, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Onaway comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Onaway?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Onaway to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding67%Lightning10%Cold waves10%Hail5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Onaway 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

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Lightning

10% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong wind

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 Onaway flood?

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

Disasters that hit Onaway

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OnawayDeclared for Presque Isle County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

105 households applied for aid $1.1M aid approved

2025

Severe Winter Storm

$60K to the City of Onaway for repairs

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

Around Onaway

Onaway and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

North Allismostly inland floodingModerate

Onawaymostly inland floodingLow

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