Home›States›Michigan›Otsego County
FEMA flood zones · Michigan

Otsego County, Michigan Flood Zone Map

Less than 1% of Otsego County’s area is in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones.

Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.

Coastal high risk (V, VE)FloodwayHigh risk (A, AE)Moderate (X, 500-year)Minimal (X)Undetermined (D)

Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Otsego 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.

In their words

2 NOAA storm reports from Otsego County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Michigan flood stories →

Federal disasters

7 federal disaster declarations since 1977.

DisasterBegan
Severe Winter StormMar 28, 2025
Hurricane Katrina EvacuationAug 29, 2005
Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99Jan 2, 1999
Blizzards & SnowstormsJan 27, 1978
DroughtMar 2, 1977

Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.

Recorded flood events

3 since 1996: 1 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.

EventDateDamage
FloodJul 29, 2024$15,000
FloodJul 29, 2024$500
Flash FloodJul 21, 2003$3,000

— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

From the storm reports

Flood · Jul 29, 2024. Unusually moist airmass ahead of an approaching mesolow and lake breezes led to development of efficient rain-producing showers and storms in the late afternoon...leading to rainfall rates near two and a half inches per hour at times. Storm total rainfall by the next morning was largely between 1 and locally as high as 4-6 inches.

National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

The zones you’ll see on the map

Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.

Cross-section of a river floodplainDiagram: a river valley. The floodway is the channel and the land beside it; the 1%-annual-chance flood surface (the base flood elevation) covers the valley floor as zone A or AE; a narrow band higher up is shaded X, the 0.2% floodplain; higher ground is X.0.2% CHANCE A YEAR (500-YEAR)BASE FLOOD ELEVATION · 1% A YEARXAEFloodwayAEX
  1. A / AE Inside the 1%-a-year floodplain: about a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. AE has a mapped base flood elevation; plain A does not.
  2. Floodway The channel and the land beside it that has to be kept clear enough to carry the flood. Building here is tightly limited.
  3. X shaded The 0.2% (500-year) floodplain, plus some levee-protected and very shallow flood areas.
  4. X Outside both lines. No federal requirement to insure, which is not the same as no risk.

Every flood zone code explained →

Flood insurance in Otsego County

If a building in Otsego 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.