Natural hazards · Amherst

Amherst, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Amherst comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Amherst?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Amherst to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding66%Tornadoes12%Cold waves9%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Amherst faces

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

Inland flooding

66% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year 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 Amherst flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lorain County.

Disasters that hit Amherst

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into AmherstDeclared for Lorain County only

Lorain County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Amherst

Amherst and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elyriamostly inland floodingLow

Amherstmostly inland floodingLow

Brownhelmmostly inland floodingLow

Lorainmostly inland floodingVery low

Elyriamostly inland floodingVery low

New Russiamostly inland floodingVery low

South Amherstmostly 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. Amherst covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Amherst’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Amherst. 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 Amherst total about $1.8M 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.