Natural hazards · Parchment

Parchment, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Parchment 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 Parchment?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Parchment to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding60%Tornadoes18%Hail9%Cold waves6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Parchment faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Parchment flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Parchment 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.

Disasters that hit Parchment

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ParchmentDeclared for Kalamazoo County only

2000

Snow

$2K to the City of Parchment for repairs

1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$5K to the City of Parchment for repairs

Kalamazoo County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Parchment

Parchment and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Parchmentmostly inland floodingLow

Kalamazoomostly inland floodingLow

Kalamazoomostly 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. Parchment covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Parchment’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Parchment. 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 Parchment total about $526K 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.