Natural hazards · Ontwa

Ontwa, MI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ontwa?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ontwa to be higher than in 11% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding51%Tornadoes14%Cold waves12%Strong wind11%Hail6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Ontwa faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce 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 Ontwa flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cass County.

Disasters that hit Ontwa

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into OntwaDeclared for Cass County only

Cass County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Ontwa

Ontwa and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ontwamostly inland floodingVery low

Masonmostly inland floodingVery low

Miltonmostly inland floodingVery low

Osolomostly inland floodingVery low

Jeffersonmostly inland floodingVery low

Simonton Lakemostly 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. Ontwa covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ontwa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Ontwa. 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 Ontwa total about $2.0M 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.