81 flood insurance claims·$811,440 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 Iosco 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.
32% of Iosco County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
37 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 10 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 2020, with 17 claims and $487,191 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.
1 NOAA storm reports from Iosco County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
10 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 16, 2020 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99 | Jan 2, 1999 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 5, 1985 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Drought | Mar 2, 1977 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Apr 12, 1973 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Dec 1, 1972 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
5 since 1996: 1 flash floods, 3 river or area floods and 1 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 18, 2020 | $1.2M |
| Lakeshore Flood | Oct 21, 2019 | $45,000 |
| Flood | Mar 5, 2004 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2003 | $3,000 |
| Flood | Apr 1, 1998 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 18, 2020. A very slow moving low pressure system advanced east from the central Plains. Unusually deep moisture was pushed northward into the Great Lakes region, ahead of this low. Multiple rounds of heavy rain fell in parts of northern lower Michigan on the 17th and 18th. This heavy rain targeted east central and northeast lower Michigan in particular. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were common by the morning of the 18t…
Lakeshore Flood · Oct 21, 2019. Strong northerly to easterly winds resulted in another round of substantial coastal flooding and beach erosion, this time on both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, for the 21st into the 22nd.
Flood · Mar 5, 2004. A storm system brought a little over an inch of rain to East Central Lower Michigan. With very cold and in places frozen ground, this water could not be readily absorbed. Combined with substantial snowmelt, the rain produced flooding in Gladwin, Arenac, and Iosco Counties. The Tobacco River in Beaverton exceeded flood stage of 12 feet late in the evening of the 5th, crested at 12.6 feet at 9 am on the 6th, and…
Flash Flood · Jul 4, 2003. Thunderstorms developed in northern Lower Michigan, and intensified as they reached the Lake Huron shoreline.
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 Iosco 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.