Natural hazards · Black River

Black River, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Black River?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Black River to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding70%Wildfire9%Cold waves7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Black River faces

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

Inland flooding

70% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

9% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Black River flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pennington County.

Disasters that hit Black River

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Black RiverDeclared for Pennington County only

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

Around Black River

Black River and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rocksburymostly inland floodingVery high

Black Rivermostly inland floodingVery high

Sandersmostly inland floodingVery high

River Fallsmostly inland floodingVery high

Polk Centremostly inland floodingVery high

St. Hilairemostly inland floodingVery high

Browns Creekmostly 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. Black River 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 Black River’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Black River. 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.