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Natural hazards · Balkan

Balkan, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Balkan comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Balkan?

53
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Balkan to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves59%Inland flooding33%Everything else8%
By hazard

What Balkan faces

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

Cold waves

59% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places
Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Balkan flood?

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

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

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BalkanDeclared for St. Louis County only
2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

$124K to the Township of Balkan for repairs
2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$35K to the Township of Balkan for repairs
1999

Severe Storms, Winds, and Flooding

$15K to the Township of Balkan for repairs
St. Louis County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Balkan

Balkan and the towns around it

Chisholm: Low, mostly cold wavesGreat Scott: Low, mostly cold wavesHibbing: Low, mostly cold wavesMountain Iron: Very low, mostly cold wavesCherry: Low, mostly cold wavesBuhl: Low, mostly cold wavesLone Pine: Low, mostly cold wavesLavell: High, mostly cold wavesNashwauk: High, mostly inland floodingKeewatin: Low, mostly cold wavesNashwauk: Low, mostly cold wavesBalkan: Moderate, mostly cold waves BalkanChisholmGreat ScottHibbing
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Balkanmostly cold wavesModerate
Chisholmmostly cold wavesLow
Hibbingmostly cold wavesLow
Great Scottmostly cold wavesLow
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. Balkan 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 Balkan’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Balkan. 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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