For tornadoes, Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’s building-damage rate is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cordry Sweetwater Lakes gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 64% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (72%), then tornadoes (21%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Cordry Sweetwater Lakes faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Tornadoes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
What’s behind Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’ grade
River and rain flooding is 72% of the building damage FEMA expects in Cordry Sweetwater Lakes, and Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts. Tornadoes add 21%, at a rate in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
B lower expected damage per building than 64% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’ residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $407K a year in losses across Cordry Sweetwater Lakes: $278K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Cordry Sweetwater Lakes flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cordry Sweetwater Lakes. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cordry Sweetwater Lakes isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Brown County.The storms Cordry Sweetwater Lakes remembers
None of the 14 disasters declared for Brown County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cordry Sweetwater Lakes itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Brown County has had 14 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Get ready for what Cordry Sweetwater Lakes faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Cordry Sweetwater Lakes
Is Cordry Sweetwater Lakes at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cordry Sweetwater Lakes has lower expected damage per building than 64% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (72%) and tornadoes (21%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Cordry Sweetwater Lakes in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Brown County, 13% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.8% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cordry Sweetwater Lakes?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Cordry Sweetwater Lakes at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (72%), and Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’ rate for it is lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cordry Sweetwater Lakes.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cordry Sweetwater Lakes’ residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.