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Natural hazards · Amherst

Amherst, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Amherst comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Amherst?

81
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Amherst to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding77%Tornadoes9%Cold waves8%Everything else6%
By hazard

What Amherst faces

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

Inland flooding

77% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places
Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Amherst flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Amherst isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Fillmore County.
Disasters that hit Amherst

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Amherst itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Amherst.

Brought FEMA money into AmherstDeclared for Fillmore County only
2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

$40K to the Township of Amherst for repairs
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$77K to the Township of Amherst for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$12K to the Township of Amherst for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$5K to the Township of Amherst for repairs
Fillmore County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Amherst

Amherst and the towns around it

Preble: Very high, mostly inland floodingPreston: Very high, mostly inland floodingHolt: Very high, mostly inland floodingCanton: Low, mostly inland floodingBlack Hammer: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNewburg: Very high, mostly inland floodingNorway: Very high, mostly inland floodingPreston: Very high, mostly inland floodingCarrolton: Very high, mostly inland floodingHarmony: Low, mostly inland floodingCarimona: Very high, mostly inland floodingLanesboro: Very high, mostly inland floodingArendahl: Very high, mostly inland floodingAmherst: Very high, mostly inland flooding AmherstPreblePrestonHoltCanton
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Amherstmostly inland floodingVery high
Prestonmostly inland floodingVery high
Preblemostly inland floodingVery high
Holtmostly inland floodingVery high
Cantonmostly inland floodingLow
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. Amherst 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 Amherst’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Amherst. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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