Natural hazards · Buffalo Lake

Buffalo Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buffalo Lake?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buffalo Lake to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding33%Cold waves20%Tornadoes13%Strong wind13%Hail7%Drought5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Buffalo Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 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 Buffalo Lake flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Buffalo Lake 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 Buffalo Lake

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Renville County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Buffalo Lake itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Buffalo LakeDeclared for Renville County only

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

Around Buffalo Lake

Buffalo Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Buffalo Lakemostly inland floodingLow

Preston Lakemostly 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. Buffalo Lake 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 Buffalo Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Buffalo Lake. 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.