Natural hazards · Rochester

Rochester, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rochester 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 Rochester?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rochester to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding58%Tornadoes17%Cold waves8%Strong wind6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Rochester faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 36 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Rochester flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lorain County.

Disasters that hit Rochester

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into RochesterDeclared for Lorain County only

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

Around Rochester

Rochester and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

New Londonmostly inland floodingLow

Troymostly inland floodingVery low

Rochestermostly inland floodingVery low

Brightonmostly inland floodingVery low

Huntingtonmostly 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. Rochester 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 Rochester’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Rochester. 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.