Natural hazards · Orleans

Orleans, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Orleans comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Orleans?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Orleans to be higher than in 12% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding47%Tornadoes20%Strong wind13%Cold waves11%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Orleans faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 57 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year 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 Orleans flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ionia County.

Disasters that hit Orleans

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OrleansDeclared for Ionia County only

2023

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid

Ionia County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Orleans

Orleans and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ronaldmostly inland floodingModerate

Eastonmostly inland floodingLow

Otiscomostly inland floodingVery low

Fairplainmostly inland floodingVery low

Orleansmostly 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. Orleans covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Orleans’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Orleans. 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 Orleans total about $846K 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.