15 flood insurance claims·$112,345 paid·1 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 Cass 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.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Cass County, which recorded 9 flash flood events and 6 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include urban flooding caused by drenching thunderstorms that dropped 1 to 2 inches of rainfall in June 2024, as well as river rises driven by a snowpack melt combined with record-high precipitable water levels and rain in February 2018.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that historical claims are concentrated in moderate-to-low risk areas rather than high-risk riverine zones. Specifically, Zone X accounts for 12 claims with an average payout of $15,837 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone X_SHADED recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $1,486 and 0 inches of average recorded water depth. Zone A recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $0 and 0 inches of average recorded water depth.
Property owners located in Zone X should pay the most attention to local flood risks, as this zone has experienced the highest frequency of claims and the highest average payout amounts in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
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.
The worst year was 2024, with 2 claims and $39,345 paid.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
3 NOAA storm reports from Cass County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
9 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2004 |
| Snow | Dec 11, 2000 |
| Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99 | Jan 2, 1999 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Sep 8, 1980 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Snowstorms | Feb 5, 1977 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
15 since 1996: 9 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 25, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jul 17, 2022 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Feb 20, 2018 | $550,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jul 18, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 25, 2024. An anomalously moist environment was conducive to drenching thunderstorms. This resulted in two instances of urban flooding from 1 to 2 inches of rainfall.
Flood · Jul 17, 2022. Isolated severe thunderstorms over southeast Lake Michigan arrived onshore and produced periodic wind damage and hail.
Flood · Feb 20, 2018. A slow release of a snow pack, containing one to over two inches of water, occurred in the days leading to the event which started the process of river rises in many areas. Low pressure tracked from northwest Iowa into northern Lower Michigan, which ushered in a rapid warmup and equally rapid release of any remaining water in the snowpack. Several rounds of rain occurred between the 19th and 21st of February acros…
Flash Flood · Jun 9, 2018. Slow moving, compact MCV moved off of Lake Michigan during the afternoon hours of the 9th. A residual stationary boundary stretched roughly from Michigan City southeastward to Van Wert in the morning of the 9th. As the MCV moved further off Lake Michigan, the boundary lifted northward as a warm front adding to the copious amounts of moisture in the atmosphere. Flash flooding impacted portions of Cass county with e…
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 Cass 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.