Natural hazards · Whitney

Whitney, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Whitney comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1987.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Whitney?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Whitney to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding62%Cold waves19%Strong wind6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Whitney faces

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

Inland flooding

62% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Whitney flood?

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

4paid claims since 1987

$20Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19872026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Arenac County.

Disasters that hit Whitney

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WhitneyDeclared for Arenac County only

Arenac County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Whitney

Whitney and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Simsmostly inland floodingLow

Alabastermostly inland floodingLow

Whitneymostly inland floodingVery low

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