Natural hazards · Athens

Athens, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Athens comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Athens?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Athens to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding60%Tornadoes14%Cold waves7%Strong wind6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Athens faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 27 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Athens flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Isanti County.

Disasters that hit Athens

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AthensDeclared for Isanti County only

2011

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$3K to the Township of Athens for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$59K to the Township of Athens for repairs

Isanti County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Athens

Athens and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Stanfordmostly inland floodingHigh

Athensmostly inland floodingModerate

Oxfordmostly inland floodingModerate

Isantimostly inland floodingModerate

East Bethelmostly inland floodingModerate

Isantimostly inland floodingModerate

St. Francismostly 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. Athens 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 Athens’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Athens. 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.