Natural hazards · Chatham

Chatham, MN natural hazards

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

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chatham to be higher than in 40% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding54%Tornadoes16%Strong wind13%Hail7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Chatham faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 26 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Chatham flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wright County.

Disasters that hit Chatham

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChathamDeclared for Wright County only

2002

Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes

$12K to the Township of Chatham for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$2K to the Township of Chatham for repairs

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

Around Chatham

Chatham and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Albionmostly inland floodingModerate

Chathammostly inland floodingModerate

Marysvillemostly inland floodingModerate

Maple Lakemostly inland floodingLow

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