Natural hazards · Clearwater

Clearwater, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clearwater comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Clearwater?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Clearwater to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding64%Tornadoes12%Strong wind9%Hail6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Clearwater faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 22 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

6% 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 Clearwater flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Clearwater 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 Clearwater

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ClearwaterDeclared for Wright County only

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$4K to the City of Clearwater for repairs

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

Around Clearwater

Clearwater and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Clear Lakemostly inland floodingHigh

Clearwatermostly inland floodingHigh

Lyndenmostly inland floodingHigh

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