Natural hazards · Esther

Esther, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Esther comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Esther?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Esther to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding57%Cold waves24%Hail6%Drought5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Esther faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Esther flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Esther isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Polk County.

Disasters that hit Esther

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into EstherDeclared for Polk County only

Polk County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Esther

Esther and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Esthermostly inland floodingVery high

Higdemmostly inland floodingVery high

Northlandmostly inland floodingVery high

Ferrymostly inland floodingHigh

Turtle Rivermostly inland floodingHigh

Grand Forksmostly cold wavesModerate

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