Natural hazards · Vassar

Vassar, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Vassar comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 48 claims here since 1985. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Vassar?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Vassar to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Cold waves14%Tornadoes8%Strong wind5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Vassar faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 89 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year 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 Vassar flood?

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

48paid claims since 1985

$628Kpaid to owners

6homes flooded more than once

19852026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 20% off flood insurance. Vassar is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 6) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Tuscola County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

10homes raised above flood level

5flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Vassar

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VassarDeclared for Tuscola County only

2000

Snow

$2K to the City of Vassar for repairs

Tuscola County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Vassar

Vassar and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Vassarmostly inland floodingVery high

Tuscolamostly inland floodingHigh

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