Natural hazards · Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grand Rapids comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1980. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Grand Rapids?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Grand Rapids to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves31%Tornadoes12%Hail5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Grand Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

31% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Grand Rapids flood?

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

10paid claims since 1980

$361Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wood County.

Disasters that hit Grand Rapids

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Grand Rapids itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Grand Rapids.

Brought FEMA money into Grand RapidsDeclared for Wood County only

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$11K to the Town of Grand Rapids for repairs

2001

Flooding, Severe Storms and Tornadoes

$48K to the Town of Grand Rapids for repairs

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

Around Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bironmostly inland floodingHigh

Saratogamostly inland floodingHigh

Grand Rapidsmostly inland floodingModerate

Grantmostly inland floodingModerate

Port Edwardsmostly inland floodingModerate

Wisconsin Rapidsmostly inland floodingLow

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. Grand Rapids covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Grand Rapids’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Grand Rapids. 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 Grand Rapids total about $8.3M 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.