Natural hazards · Vandalia

Vandalia, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Vandalia comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Vandalia?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Vandalia to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding57%Tornadoes13%Cold waves11%Strong wind9%Hail6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Vandalia faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 33 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Vandalia flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cass County.

Disasters that hit Vandalia

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VandaliaDeclared for Cass County only

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $1K aid approved

2000

Snow

$1K to the Village of Vandalia for repairs

1999

Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99

$2K to the Village of Vandalia for repairs

Cass County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

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. Vandalia 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 Vandalia’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Vandalia. 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.