Natural hazards · Mount Sterling

Mount Sterling, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Sterling comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low 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 Mount Sterling?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Sterling to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding52%Tornadoes13%Strong wind7%Cold waves6%Earthquakes6%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Mount Sterling faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 51 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Mount Sterling flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Madison County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Mount Sterling

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mount SterlingDeclared for Madison County only

2008

Severe Wind Storm Associated With Tropical Depression Ike

$8K to the Village of Mount Sterling for repairs

2008

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

$3K to the Village of Mount Sterling for repairs

2004

Snow

$2K to the Village of Mount Sterling for repairs

2003

Severe Winter Storm and Record/Near Record Snow

$5K to the Village of Mount Sterling for repairs

Madison County has had 10 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. Mount Sterling 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 Mount Sterling’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Mount Sterling. 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.