Natural hazards · Sault Ste. Marie

Sault Ste. Marie, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sault Ste. Marie 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 Sault Ste. Marie?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sault Ste. Marie to be higher than in 2% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding64%Cold waves30%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Sault Ste. Marie faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Sault Ste. Marie flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Sault Ste. Marie.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chippewa County.

Disasters that hit Sault Ste. Marie

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Chippewa County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Sault Ste. Marie itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Sault Ste. MarieDeclared for Chippewa County only

Chippewa County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Sault Ste. Marie

Sault Ste. Marie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Soomostly inland floodingVery low

Sugar Islandmostly inland floodingVery low

Sault Ste. Mariemostly 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. Sault Ste. Marie covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sault Ste. Marie’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sault Ste. Marie. 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 Sault Ste. Marie total about $1.5M 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.