Natural hazards · Wales

Wales, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wales comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2014. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wales?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wales to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves20%Tornadoes15%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Wales faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 89 years 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 Wales flood?

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

1paid claims since 2014

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20142026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Clair County.

Disasters that hit Wales

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WalesDeclared for St. Clair County only

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

13 households applied for aid $32K aid approved

St. Clair County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Wales

Wales and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rileymostly inland floodingModerate

Kenockeemostly inland floodingLow

Walesmostly inland floodingLow

Columbusmostly inland floodingLow

Kimballmostly inland floodingLow

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. Wales covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wales’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wales. 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 Wales total about $1.0M 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.