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Natural hazards · Browns Valley

Browns Valley, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Browns Valley comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 50 claims here since 1979. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Browns Valley?

53
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Browns Valley to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves18%Hail13%Strong wind11%Tornadoes6%Everything else5%
By hazard

What Browns Valley faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places
Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Browns Valley flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Browns Valley, from FEMA’s records.

50paid claims since 1979
$343Kpaid to owners
5homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Midwest Flooding: 3 claims, $15K
  • Winter storm: 2 claims, $6K
  • Not a named storm: 1 claim, $712

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Browns Valley isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Traverse County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

19flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
1homes raised above flood level
1storm safe rooms built
Disasters that hit Browns Valley

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Browns Valley itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Browns Valley.

Brought FEMA money into Browns ValleyDeclared for Traverse County only
2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$3K to the City of Browns Valley for repairs
2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$7K to the City of Browns Valley for repairs
2010

Flooding

$17K to the City of Browns Valley for repairs
2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $194 aid approved $6K to the City of Browns Valley for repairs
2005

Severe Winter Storm

$20K to the City of Browns Valley for repairs
2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$14K to the City of Browns Valley for repairs
Traverse County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Browns Valley

Browns Valley and the towns around it

Folsom: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBrowns Valley: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBecker: High, mostly inland floodingBryant: Moderate, mostly inland floodingArthur: Moderate, mostly inland floodingEaster: Moderate, mostly cold wavesToqua: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFoster: Moderate, mostly inland floodingParnell: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLawrence: Moderate, mostly cold wavesLake: High, mostly inland floodingLee: High, mostly inland floodingBrowns Valley: Moderate, mostly inland flooding Browns ValleyFolsomBrowns ValleyBecker
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Beckermostly inland floodingHigh
Browns Valleymostly inland floodingModerate
Folsommostly inland floodingModerate
Browns Valleymostly 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. Browns Valley 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 Browns Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Browns Valley. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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