Natural hazards · Torch Lake

Torch Lake, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Torch Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2026.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Torch Lake?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Torch Lake to be higher than in 10% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves40%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Torch Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Cold waves

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once 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 Torch Lake flood?

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

1paid claims since 2026

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20262026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Antrim County.

Disasters that hit Torch Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Torch LakeDeclared for Antrim County only

Antrim County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and ice storms.

Around Torch Lake

Torch Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Miltonmostly inland floodingLow

Forest Homemostly inland floodingLow

Central Lakemostly inland floodingLow

Torch Lakemostly inland floodingVery low

Banksmostly 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. Torch Lake 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 Torch Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Torch Lake. 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.