Natural hazards · Bluffton

Bluffton, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bluffton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 63 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bluffton?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bluffton to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding67%Tornadoes11%Earthquakes7%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Bluffton faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Bluffton flood?

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

63paid claims since 1979

$1.3Mpaid to owners

9homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Late winter storms: 7 claims, $147K
Tropical Storm Erin: 2 claims, $88K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (3) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Allen County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Bluffton

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BlufftonDeclared for Allen County only

2012

Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds

$14K to the Village of Bluffton for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

180 households applied for aid $501K aid approved $51K to the Village of Bluffton for repairs

2004

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$20K to the Village of Bluffton for repairs

Allen County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

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. Bluffton covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bluffton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Bluffton. 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 Bluffton total about $1.1M 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.