Natural hazards · Watersmeet

Watersmeet, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watersmeet comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Watersmeet?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watersmeet to be higher than in 12% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves30%Lightning8%Strong wind6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Watersmeet faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lightning

8% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Watersmeet flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Gogebic County.

Disasters that hit Watersmeet

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WatersmeetDeclared for Gogebic County only

2002

Flooding

$2K to the Township of Watersmeet for repairs

Gogebic County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Watersmeet

Watersmeet and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Phelpsmostly cold wavesLow

Haightmostly inland floodingLow

Interiormostly inland floodingLow

Land O'Lakesmostly inland floodingVery low

Stambaughmostly cold wavesVery low

Mareniscomostly inland floodingVery low

Watersmeetmostly 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. Watersmeet 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 Watersmeet’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Watersmeet. 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.