Natural hazards · Clear Lake

Clear Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clear Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2022.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Clear Lake?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Clear Lake to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding59%Drought11%Tornadoes10%Strong wind7%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Clear Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 32 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Clear Lake flood?

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

2paid claims since 2022

$14Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20222026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Clear 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: Sherburne County.

Disasters that hit Clear Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Clear LakeDeclared for Sherburne County only

Sherburne County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Clear Lake covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Clear Lake’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Clear Lake. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Clear Lake total about $1.7M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.