58 flood insurance claims·$1.1M paid
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 Grand Traverse 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 character of Grand Traverse County, accounting for 13 of the 20 recorded flood events in the last 30 years, alongside 5 general floods and 2 lakeshore floods. Recent documented events include multiple rounds of thunderstorms on June 25, 2023, driven by a sub-1000mb cyclone and warm, moist air advection, as well as storms on October 24, 2023, which dropped 1 to 2 inches of rainfall in about an hour over Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones with varying impacts. Zone A accounts for 25 claims with an average payout of $44,292 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Zone X recorded 20 claims with an average payout of $9,839 and an average water depth of 34 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED logged 6 claims with an average payout of $39,402 and an average water depth of 5 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 5 claims averaging $6,194 with an average depth of 1 inch, and Zone X_SHADED saw 2 claims with an average payout of $0 and an average depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A, which received the highest number of claims and substantial average payouts, as well as properties in Zone X, which experienced the deepest average recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
24% of Grand Traverse County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
33 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 17 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 2026, with 11 claims and $700,200 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Grand Traverse County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
5 federal disaster declarations since 1977.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Drought | Mar 2, 1977 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
20 since 1996: 13 flash floods, 5 river or area floods and 2 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 24, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Oct 24, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Sep 6, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2020 | $310,000 |
| Flood | Oct 22, 2020 | $35,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2023. A seasonably strong shortwave progressed over the Midwest and mid-Mississippi River Valley, providing support for a sub-1000mb cyclone just west of Lake Michigan. Favorable warm, moist advection across the Great Lakes set the state for severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms tracked across northern Michigan through the afternoon and evening, producing severe hail on…
Flood · Jun 25, 2023. A seasonably strong shortwave progressed over the Midwest and mid-Mississippi River Valley, providing support for a sub-1000mb cyclone just west of Lake Michigan. Favorable warm, moist advection across the Great Lakes set the state for severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms tracked across northern Michigan through the afternoon and evening, producing severe hail on…
Flash Flood · Oct 24, 2023. A jet max punched over the northern Great Lakes on 10/24, helping to support multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms through the day. As the first round of storms moved east across the area through the morning, favorable warm and moist air advection helped spark a second round of storms along the existing outflow boundary from the first round. These west-east oriented storms tracked east over Leelanau and Gra…
Flood · Oct 24, 2023. A jet max punched over the northern Great Lakes on 10/24, helping to support multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms through the day. As the first round of storms moved east across the area through the morning, favorable warm and moist air advection helped spark a second round of storms along the existing outflow boundary from the first round. These west-east oriented storms tracked east over Leelanau and Gra…
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 Grand Traverse 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.