Natural hazards · Carlisle

Carlisle, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Carlisle 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 Carlisle?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Carlisle to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding55%Cold waves19%Tornadoes13%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Carlisle faces

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

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Carlisle flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Otter Tail County.

Disasters that hit Carlisle

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CarlisleDeclared for Otter Tail County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$21K to the Township of Carlisle for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$32K to the Township of Carlisle for repairs

Otter Tail County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Carlisle

Carlisle and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Andreamostly inland floodingHigh

Akronmostly inland floodingHigh

Orwellmostly inland floodingLow

Carlislemostly inland floodingLow

Fergus Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

Oscarmostly inland floodingLow

Fergus Fallsmostly inland floodingVery low

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