Natural hazards · Forest

Forest, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forest comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Forest?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forest to be higher than in 40% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves10%Tornadoes10%Strong wind8%Lightning6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Forest faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 21 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslides

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 Forest flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hardin County.

Disasters that hit Forest

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ForestDeclared for Hardin County only

2012

Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds

$27K to the Village of Forest for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

70 households applied for aid $205K aid approved $12K to the Village of Forest for repairs

2004

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

5 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $17K to the Village of Forest for repairs

2004

Snow

$1K to the Village of Forest for repairs

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

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. Forest 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 Forest’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Forest. 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.