Natural hazards · Garfield Heights

Garfield Heights, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Garfield Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 30 claims here since 1979. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Garfield Heights?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Garfield Heights to be higher than in 10% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves25%Tornadoes14%Heat waves6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Garfield Heights faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Garfield Heights flood?

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

30paid claims since 1979

$894Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Late winter storms: 13 claims, $553K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cuyahoga County.

Disasters that hit Garfield Heights

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Garfield Heights itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Garfield Heights.

Brought FEMA money into Garfield HeightsDeclared for Cuyahoga County only

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding Due to the Remnants of Hurricane Sandy

$20K to the City of Garfield Heights for repairs

2006

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight Line Winds, and Flooding

32 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

239 households applied for aid $99K aid approved $22K to the City of Garfield Heights for repairs

2003

Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, and High Winds

543 households applied for aid $612K aid approved

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

Around Garfield Heights

Garfield Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Valley Viewmostly inland floodingLow

Clevelandmostly inland floodingLow

Cuyahoga Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low

Garfield Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low

Maple Heightsmostly 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. Garfield Heights covers 9 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Garfield Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Garfield Heights. 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 Garfield Heights total about $4.7M 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.