Natural hazards · Sylvan

Sylvan, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sylvan comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 18 claims here since 2005.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sylvan?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sylvan to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding61%Strong wind11%Cold waves11%Tornadoes8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Sylvan faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 53 years 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 Sylvan flood?

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

18paid claims since 2005

$479Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20052026

Biggest named events

2026-04-Flooding: 7 claims, $249K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Osceola County.

Disasters that hit Sylvan

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Osceola County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Sylvan itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into SylvanDeclared for Osceola County only

Osceola County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Sylvan

Sylvan and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sylvanmostly inland floodingModerate

Orientmostly inland floodingModerate

Middle Branchmostly inland floodingLow

Osceolamostly inland floodingLow

Freemanmostly 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. Sylvan is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sylvan’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Sylvan. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.