Natural hazards · Chatham

Chatham, OH natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chatham?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chatham to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding62%Tornadoes17%Strong wind6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Chatham 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 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 82 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Chatham flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Medina County.

Disasters that hit Chatham

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChathamDeclared for Medina County only

Medina County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

Around Chatham

Chatham and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Spencermostly inland floodingLow

Litchfieldmostly inland floodingVery low

Chathammostly inland floodingVery low

Harrisvillemostly inland floodingVery low

Lafayettemostly 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. Chatham covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Chatham’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Chatham. 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 Chatham total about $468K 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.