6 flood insurance claims·$14,325 paid·2 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Baraga County, Michigan. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
4 NOAA storm reports from Baraga County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
7 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | Apr 16, 2013 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Flooding | Apr 10, 2002 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Drought | Mar 2, 1977 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
14 since 1996: 2 flash floods, 9 river or area floods and 3 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2025 | $9.3M |
| Flood | Apr 12, 2023 | — |
| Flood | May 4, 2023 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 24, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | Oct 27, 2017 | $20,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | Oct 27, 2017 | $10,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | Sep 10, 2014 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 15, 2025. Training thunderstorms around the Keweenaw Bay produced impactful flash flooding in Baraga County on the morning of the 15th.
Flood · Apr 12, 2023. Rapid melting of much above normal snowpack caused widespread, and at times, extensive flooding over portions of west and central Upper Michigan from the 12th into the 25th. Extensive impacts from the flooding caused Governor Whitmer to declare a state of emergency declaration for eight counties in west and central Upper Michigan on the 21st.
Flood · May 4, 2023. The historic late season snowstorm of May 1-2 dumped three to more than four inches of liquid water equivalent precipitation over the higher terrain of Baraga, Marquette and western Alger counties. This significant precipitation event led to a second round of spring snowmelt flooding over portions of west and north central portions of Upper Michigan into early May.
Flood · Apr 29, 2020. Basin-wide rainfall amounts of one to one and a half inches caused the Sturgeon River near Alston to briefly crest above flood stage from late afternoon on the 29th into the morning of the 30th.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Baraga County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.