Natural hazards · Bethel

Bethel, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bethel?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bethel to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding51%Strong wind15%Tornadoes12%Hail7%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Bethel faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Bethel flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Anoka County.

Disasters that hit Bethel

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BethelDeclared for Anoka County only

Anoka County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Bethel

Bethel and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

East Bethelmostly inland floodingModerate

St. Francismostly inland floodingLow

Bethelmostly 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. Bethel 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 Bethel’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Bethel. 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.