Natural hazards · St. Paul

St. Paul, IA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Paul comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Paul?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Paul to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding43%Drought16%Tornadoes12%Strong wind7%Hail7%Heat waves7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What St. Paul faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

16% of expected damage

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does St. Paul flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in St. Paul.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. St. Paul isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Lee County.

Disasters that hit St. Paul

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Lee County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching St. Paul itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into St. PaulDeclared for Lee County only

Lee County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. St. Paul is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to St. Paul’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of St. Paul. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.

St. Paul, IA natural hazards

How exposed is St. Paul?

What St. Paul faces

Inland flooding

Drought

Tornadoes

Strong wind

Hail

Heat waves

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does St. Paul flood?

Federal disasters declared here

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby