153 flood insurance claims·$4.3M paid·4 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 Newaygo 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.
6% of Newaygo County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
108 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 12 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 2014, with 56 claims and $1.8M 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 Newaygo County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | Apr 16, 2013 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2004 |
| Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99 | Jan 2, 1999 |
| Severe Storms | May 29, 1998 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Sep 10, 1986 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 5, 1985 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 27, 1978 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
14 since 1996: 7 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 18, 2020 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | $1.7M |
| Flood | Oct 2, 2019 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Apr 12, 2014 | $4.0M |
| Flood | Apr 17, 2013 | $5.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2011 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 23, 2004 | $1.0M |
| Flood | Feb 24, 2001 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 · Mar 14, 2019. On Thursday March 14, 2019 three rounds of thunderstorms combined to drop approximately 1.5 inches of rain on much of Newaygo County. In addition, the ground was frozen and approximately 4 inches of snow water equivalent was contained in the snowpack. About 2.5 inches of this snow water melted and joined the rainfall runoff. ||These 3 factors all resulted in rapid and significant flooding across parts of the count…
Flood · Oct 2, 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 · Apr 12, 2014. The combination of a very significant snowpack that gradually melted and milder temperatures and significant rainfall of one to three inches on April 12 resulted in flooding across portions of west central lower Michigan. Some of the worst flooding occurred in portions of Newaygo county, where 403 homes were damaged by flooding on the Muskegon river and significant road damage was also sustained.
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 Newaygo 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.