37 flood insurance claims·$542,744 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 Isabella 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.
Isabella County experiences a balanced distribution of general floods and flash floods, with 9 flood events and 8 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Heavy rainfall events, often driven by saturated soils or rapid accumulation, routinely cause road closures and property damage. For example, a June 2017 event brought torrential rainfall totaling close to seven inches, resulting in over 90 million dollars in damage to homes, roads, and bridges, alongside 20 million dollars in crop damage. More recently, significant rainfall over May 17 and 18, 2020, followed a wet week that left soils saturated, producing immediate runoff and road closures.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A properties have experienced the highest impact with 21 claims averaging $20,378 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. However, properties outside designated high-risk areas are also vulnerable, as evidenced by 14 claims in Zone X averaging $20,116 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A face the highest exposure to deep water accumulation, while property owners in Zone X should also note that significant claims and water depths can occur outside of mapped special flood hazard areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Isabella County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
22 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 8 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 2017, with 20 claims and $466,934 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
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.
12 NOAA storm reports from Isabella County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
11 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 22, 2017 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Snow | Dec 11, 2000 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Sep 10, 1986 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 5, 1985 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Drought | Mar 2, 1977 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Icing & Flooding | Mar 19, 1976 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
17 since 1996: 8 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 11, 2022 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 18, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Oct 1, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Jun 23, 2017 | $70.0M |
| Flood | Apr 17, 2013 | $3.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2011 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2010 | $4.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2008 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 11, 2022. Isolated severe storms resulted in several reports of large hail and isolated wind damage in the form of downed trees and limbs. Back-building thunderstorms moved from Isabella County back toward Big Rapids and resulted in 3.0 to 4.5 inches of rain in about 2 hours over parts of Isabella and Mecosta Counties.
Flood · May 18, 2020. Significant rainfall fell across all of Lower Michigan on May 17 and 18 with many locations in Southwest Lower Michigan reporting over 3 inches of rain. This was the culmination of an already wet week that had experienced three separate episodes of heavy rain. As a result, soil was already saturated and this additional rain immediately became runoff instead of soaking into the ground. There were many reports of r…
Flood · Oct 1, 2019. Two to nearly five inches of rain fell across portions of west central lower Michigan and resulted in some flooding of area roads and low lying areas. Several roads were closed.
Flood · Jun 23, 2017. Several rounds of torrential rainfall resulted in major flooding in portions of Isabella county, where some locations received close to seven inches of rain. The flooding resulted in over 90 million dollars worth of damage to homes, roads and bridges in Isabella county. At one point over 100 roads were closed due to flooding. Over 20 million dollars worth of damage to crops was incurred.
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 Isabella 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.