Natural hazards · Fergus Falls

Fergus Falls, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fergus Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1997. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fergus Falls?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fergus Falls to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding46%Cold waves27%Tornadoes14%Strong wind5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Fergus Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

27% 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 82% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Fergus Falls flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Fergus Falls, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 1997

$86Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Fergus Falls itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Fergus Falls.

Brought FEMA money into Fergus FallsDeclared for Otter Tail County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$7K to the City of Fergus Falls for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$122K to the City of Fergus Falls for repairs

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

Around Fergus Falls

Fergus Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Aurdalmostly inland floodingLow

Orwellmostly inland floodingLow

Fergus Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

Carlislemostly inland floodingLow

Busemostly inland floodingVery low

Fergus Fallsmostly 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. Fergus Falls covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fergus Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Fergus Falls. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Fergus Falls total about $4.7M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.