Natural hazards · Big Lake

Big Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Lake 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 Big Lake?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Lake to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes16%Strong wind12%Cold waves7%Hail5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Big Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Big Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sherburne County.

Disasters that hit Big Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big LakeDeclared for Sherburne County only

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

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. Big Lake covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Big Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Big Lake. 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 Big Lake total about $1.6M 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.