397 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·3 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 Ingham 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.
16% of Ingham County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
296 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 5 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 1981, with 71 claims and $152,619 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Ingham County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Aug 24, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 6, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2004 |
| Power Outage | Aug 14, 2003 |
| Snow | Dec 11, 2000 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Severe Storms, High Winds & Flooding | Sep 30, 1975 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
12 since 1996: 8 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 17, 2013 | $5.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2011 | $5.0M |
| Flood | Sep 16, 2010 | $25,000 |
| Flood | May 21, 2004 | $1.0M |
| Flood | Feb 24, 2001 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2001 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2001 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2001 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 17, 2013. Record flooding occurred during the month of April and record crests occurred on the lower portions of the Grand River at Ionia, Lowell, Ada, Comstock Park, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Due to the severity of the flooding, Michigan���s Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of disaster for 19 counties and two cities. ||The two cities declared in the disaster were Grand Rapids and Ionia. The counties included…
Flash Flood · Jul 27, 2011. Several rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms moved across southwest lower Michigan from July 27 to July 29, flooding roadways and intersections across areas near to mainly south of Interstate 96. The most significant impacts from flash flooding occurred in and near the Lansing area. Radar estimated that 6 to 10 inches of rain fell from July 27 to 29 near and southwest of Lansing.
Flood · Sep 16, 2010. Locally heavy rainfall during the early afternoon hours of September sixteenth in and near Lansing resulted in some localized flooding. The broadcast media reported that cars were stalled at the intersection of US-127 and Saginaw Street and several roads, intersections and parking lots were briefly flooded by the heavy rain which fell in a short period of time. The Lansing ASOS reported that 1.4 inches of rain f…
Flood · May 21, 2004. The biggest and longest duration flooding event in the past ten to twenty years occurred across southwestern and south central lower Michigan from May 20th through the third of June. Flooding in mid May resulted in very high river levels and the ground was saturated on the 20th. Numerous thunderstorm complexes and areas of heavy rainfall developed repeatedly in the vicinity of a quasi stationary frontal boundary…
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 Ingham 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.