Natural hazards · Whitewater

Whitewater, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Whitewater comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2020.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Whitewater?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Cold waves50%Inland flooding34%Winter weather5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Whitewater faces

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

Cold waves

50% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Winter weather

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 31 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsHeat 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 Whitewater flood?

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

1paid claims since 2020

$6Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20202026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Grand Traverse County.

Disasters that hit Whitewater

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Grand Traverse County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Whitewater itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into WhitewaterDeclared for Grand Traverse County only

Grand Traverse County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Whitewater

Whitewater and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Miltonmostly inland floodingLow

Clearwatermostly inland floodingLow

Whitewatermostly cold wavesVery low

Unionmostly cold wavesVery low

East Baymostly cold wavesVery low

Acmemostly cold wavesVery low

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