Natural hazards · Birch Cooley

Birch Cooley, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Birch Cooley comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Birch Cooley?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Birch Cooley to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding46%Cold waves16%Tornadoes10%Strong wind9%Hail6%Drought6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Birch Cooley faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Birch Cooley flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Renville County.

Disasters that hit Birch Cooley

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Birch CooleyDeclared for Renville County only

2014

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$2K to the Township of Birch Cooley for repairs

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$8K to the Township of Birch Cooley for repairs

Renville County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Birch Cooley

Birch Cooley and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Birch Cooleymostly inland floodingLow

Mortonmostly inland floodingLow

Beaver Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

Shermanmostly inland floodingLow

Campmostly inland floodingLow

Bandonmostly inland floodingLow

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