64 flood insurance claims·$1.5M 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 Mecosta 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.
River overflow and flash flooding from heavy rainfall and ice jams shape the flood profile of Mecosta County, which recorded 8 flood events and 7 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events include an ice jam on the Muskegon River in January 2013 that flooded over a dozen homes and required evacuations near Rogers Heights. Additionally, back-building thunderstorms dropped 3.0 to 4.5 inches of rain in about two hours over parts of Isabella and Mecosta Counties in May 2022, and widespread heavy rain produced saturated soils and road closures in May 2020.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data show financial impacts across multiple zones. Zone A recorded 27 claims with an average payout of $22,571 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Unshaded Zone X recorded 18 claims averaging $26,351 with an average water depth of 12 inches, while Zone X recorded 17 claims averaging $34,772 with an average water depth of 33 inches. Zone Unknown recorded 2 claims averaging $2,736 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Properties near rivers, such as the Muskegon River, and properties located within designated Zone A and Zone X flood hazard areas should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
40% of Mecosta County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
45 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 18 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 2013, with 14 claims and $881,201 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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Mecosta County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 3 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 10, 1986 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 5, 1985 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
| Drought | Mar 2, 1977 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
15 since 1996: 7 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 11, 2022 | $2.5M |
| Flood | May 18, 2020 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Jan 30, 2013 | $4.6M |
| Flood | Apr 17, 2013 | $3.0M |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2011 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2011 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2005 | $20,000 |
| Flood | May 23, 2004 | $1.0M |
— = 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 · Jan 30, 2013. Significant ice jam flooding occurred on the Muskegon River in Mecosta County. Evacuations occurred along the Muskegon River near Rogers Heights. Over a dozen homes were evacuated and flooded. Riverside Drive and 183rd Avenue (12th Mile Road) in particular was an area that experienced significant flooding.
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…
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 Mecosta 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.