Oshtemo is calmer than 86% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oshtemo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Oshtemo’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Oshtemo?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.
Calmer than 1,401 of the 1,771 Michigan towns we cover.
Oshtemo covers 6 census tracts, combined by population.
Does Oshtemo flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Oshtemo. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Oshtemo isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Kalamazoo County.What Oshtemo faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Hail
Cold waves
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Kalamazoo County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Oshtemo itself in FEMA’s records.
Kalamazoo County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.
Get ready for what Oshtemo actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Oshtemo and its neighbors
Oshtemo ranks 2nd calmest of 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in April–May
The month each of Kalamazoo County’s 9 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Oshtemo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Oshtemo.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Oshtemo, expected losses total about $4.4M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Oshtemo.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.