Natural hazards · Fairbanks

Fairbanks, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fairbanks comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Fairbanks?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fairbanks to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves53%Inland flooding40%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Fairbanks faces

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

Cold waves

53% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once 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 Fairbanks flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Fairbanks 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 Fairbanks

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FairbanksDeclared for St. Louis County only

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding

$15K to the Township of Fairbanks for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$6K to the Township of Fairbanks for repairs

1999

Severe Storms, Winds, and Flooding

$6K to the Township of Fairbanks for repairs

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

Around Fairbanks

Fairbanks and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Aultmostly inland floodingHigh

Fairbanksmostly cold wavesModerate

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