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Natural hazards · Sterling Heights

Sterling Heights, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sterling Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 23 claims here since 1979. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Sterling Heights?

42
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sterling Heights to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding51%Tornadoes24%Cold waves16%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Sterling Heights 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
Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Cold waves

16% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Sterling Heights flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Sterling Heights, from FEMA’s records.

23paid claims since 1979
$904Kpaid to owners
2homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 1 claim, $19K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Sterling Heights is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.
Insurance rates: Macomb County.
Disasters that hit Sterling Heights

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Sterling HeightsDeclared for Macomb County only
2023

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

703 households applied for aid $1.7M aid approved
2021

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

129 households applied for aid $115K aid approved
2014

Severe Storms and Flooding

653 households applied for aid $502K aid approved $797K to the City of Sterling Heights for repairs
2005

Hurricane Katrina Evacuation

$1K to the City of Sterling Heights for repairs
2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

76 households applied for aid $42K aid approved
2000

Snow

$68K to the City of Sterling Heights for repairs
1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$64K to the City of Sterling Heights for repairs
Macomb County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Sterling Heights

Sterling Heights and the towns around it

Utica: Low, mostly inland floodingShelby: Low, mostly inland floodingTroy: Very low, mostly inland floodingClinton: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWarren: Low, mostly inland floodingRochester Hills: Very low, mostly inland floodingMacomb: High, mostly inland floodingWashington: Low, mostly inland floodingRochester: Very low, mostly inland floodingBirmingham: Low, mostly inland floodingRoyal Oak: Low, mostly inland floodingMadison Heights: Low, mostly inland floodingClawson: Low, mostly inland floodingBloomfield: Very low, mostly inland floodingMount Clemens: Low, mostly inland floodingHarrison: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSt. Clair Shores: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFraser: Low, mostly inland floodingEastpointe: Low, mostly inland floodingRoseville: Low, mostly inland floodingDetroit: Low, mostly inland floodingHazel Park: Low, mostly inland floodingSterling Heights: Moderate, mostly inland flooding Sterling HeightsUticaShelbyTroyClintonWarren
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Clintonmostly inland floodingModerate
Sterling Heightsmostly inland floodingModerate
Uticamostly inland floodingLow
Warrenmostly inland floodingLow
Shelbymostly inland floodingLow
Troymostly 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. Sterling Heights covers 31 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sterling Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sterling Heights. 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 Sterling Heights total about $39.2M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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