Busching Covered Bridge · Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 3.0For tornadoes, Johnson Township’s building-damage rate is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Johnson Township gets a B− for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 54% of U.S. towns, #377 of 593 in Indiana. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%), then tornadoes (18%). 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 Johnson Township 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
Earthquakes
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 Johnson Township’s grade
River and rain flooding is 70% of the building damage FEMA expects in Johnson Township, and Johnson Township’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 53% of U.S. census tracts. Tornadoes add 18%, at a rate in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
B− #377 of 593 in Indiana; lower expected damage per building than 54% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Johnson Township’s residents live in 4 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical Indiana town has lower expected damage than 60% of U.S. towns; within the state, Johnson Township has more expected damage per building than 64% of Indiana towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.7M a year in losses across Johnson Township: $1.1M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Johnson Township flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Johnson Township. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Johnson Township isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Ripley County.The storms Johnson Township remembers
None of the 14 disasters declared for Ripley County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Johnson Township itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Ripley County has had 14 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Johnson Township and its neighbors
Johnson Township has the lowest expected damage per building of the 6 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson Township | B−less damage than 54% | river and rain flooding | 0 |
| Delaware Township | C+more damage than 56% | river and rain flooding | 10 |
| Center Township | C+more damage than 57% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Otter Creek Township | C+more damage than 60% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Brown Township | C−more damage than 77% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Washington Township | C−more damage than 81% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Shelby Township | — | not graded yet | |
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Johnson Township 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Johnson Township
Is Johnson Township at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Johnson Township has lower expected damage per building than 54% of U.S. towns: B− for hazard risk, #377 of 593 in Indiana. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%) and tornadoes (18%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Johnson Township 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 Ripley County, 7% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.1% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Johnson Township?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Johnson Township’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Johnson Township at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (70%), and Johnson Township’s rate for it is higher than 53% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Johnson Township.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Johnson Township’s 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.