Natural hazards · Dead Lake

Dead Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dead Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low 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 Dead Lake?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dead Lake to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding54%Cold waves18%Tornadoes14%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Dead Lake 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

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 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 Dead Lake flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Dead 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: Otter Tail County.

Disasters that hit Dead Lake

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Dead LakeDeclared for Otter Tail County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$2K to the Township of Dead Lake for repairs

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

Around Dead Lake

Dead Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rush Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Amormostly inland floodingModerate

Ednamostly inland floodingLow

Dead Lakemostly inland floodingVery low

Star Lakemostly 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. Dead Lake 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 Dead Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Dead Lake. 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.