Natural hazards · Eastern

Eastern, MN natural hazards

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

21
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Eastern to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding53%Cold waves20%Tornadoes11%Everything else16%
By hazard

What Eastern faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places
Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Eastern flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Eastern 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 Eastern

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into EasternDeclared for Otter Tail County only
2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$4K to the Township of Eastern for repairs
Otter Tail County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Eastern

Eastern and the towns around it

Woodside: Low, mostly inland floodingSpruce Hill: Low, mostly inland floodingWykeham: Low, mostly inland floodingParkers Prairie: Low, mostly inland floodingBertha: Low, mostly inland floodingElmo: Low, mostly inland floodingOak Valley: Low, mostly inland floodingMiltona: Low, mostly inland floodingBelle River: Low, mostly inland floodingBurleene: Low, mostly inland floodingEagle Bend: Low, mostly inland floodingEagle Valley: Low, mostly inland floodingEffington: Low, mostly inland floodingEastern: Low, mostly inland flooding EasternWoodsideSpruce HillWykehamParkers Prairie
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Spruce Hillmostly inland floodingLow
Wykehammostly inland floodingLow
Easternmostly inland floodingLow
Woodsidemostly inland floodingLow
Parkers Prairiemostly 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. Eastern 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 Eastern’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Eastern. 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.

We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Eastern, MNOtter Tail CountyView boundary

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Eastern is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

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