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Natural hazards · Cotton

Cotton, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cotton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Cotton?

60
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cotton to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding47%Cold waves46%Everything else7%
By hazard

What Cotton faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

46% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places
Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Cotton flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Cotton isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: St. Louis County.
Disasters that hit Cotton

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CottonDeclared for St. Louis County only
2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$25K to the Township of Cotton for repairs
2012

Severe Storms and Flooding

$7K to the Township of Cotton for repairs
1999

Severe Storms, Winds, and Flooding

$5K to the Township of Cotton for repairs
St. Louis County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Cotton

Cotton and the towns around it

Kelsey: High, mostly cold wavesEllsburg: High, mostly inland floodingNorthland: High, mostly inland floodingToivola: High, mostly cold wavesMeadowlands: High, mostly cold wavesMcDavitt: High, mostly cold wavesNew Independence: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCotton: High, mostly inland flooding CottonKelseyEllsburgNorthland
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Kelseymostly cold wavesHigh
Cottonmostly inland floodingHigh
Ellsburgmostly inland floodingHigh
Northlandmostly 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. Cotton 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 Cotton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Cotton. 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.

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Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Cotton, MNSt. Louis CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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