Natural hazards · Balsam

Balsam, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Balsam?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Balsam to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding52%Cold waves37%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Balsam faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

37% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 17 times 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 Balsam flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Itasca County.

Disasters that hit Balsam

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BalsamDeclared for Itasca County only

Itasca County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Balsam

Balsam and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Balsammostly inland floodingHigh

Nashwaukmostly inland floodingHigh

Lawrencemostly inland floodingHigh

Wabanamostly inland floodingModerate

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. Balsam covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Balsam total about $1.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.