Natural hazards · Bigfork

Bigfork, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bigfork comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bigfork?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bigfork to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding74%Cold waves20%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Bigfork faces

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

Inland flooding

74% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

20% 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 Bigfork flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Bigfork 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 Bigfork

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BigforkDeclared for Itasca County only

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding

$8K to the Township of Bigfork for repairs

2002

Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes

$10K to the Township of Bigfork for repairs

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

Around Bigfork

Bigfork and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bigforkmostly inland floodingVery high

Stokesmostly inland floodingHigh

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