Natural hazards · Big Woods

Big Woods, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Woods comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Woods?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Woods to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding58%Cold waves22%Hail5%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Big Woods faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce 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 Big Woods flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Marshall County.

Disasters that hit Big Woods

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big WoodsDeclared for Marshall County only

2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$20K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2022

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$102K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$60K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$58K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2010

Flooding

$84K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$280K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2006

Flooding

$40K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$13K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

1999

Severe Ice Storm and Flooding

$11K to the Township of Big Woods for repairs

Marshall County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Big Woods

Big Woods and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Big Woodsmostly inland floodingHigh

Forkmostly inland floodingHigh

Oak Parkmostly inland floodingHigh

Bloomermostly inland floodingHigh

Pulaskimostly inland floodingModerate

Actonmostly 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. Big Woods 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 Big Woods’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Big Woods. 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.