Fish Lake’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fish Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Fish Lake’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Fish Lake flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Fish Lake. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Fish 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: Jackson County.How exposed is Fish Lake?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.
Rated higher than 1,586 of the 2,631 Minnesota towns we cover.
Fish Lake is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Fish Lake faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Cold waves
Hail
Tornadoes
Drought
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Jackson County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fish Lake itself in FEMA’s records.
Jackson County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Get ready for what Fish Lake actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Fish Lake and its neighbors
Fish Lake has the lowest rating of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Lake | Moderate | inland flooding | 0 |
| Christiania | Moderate | inland flooding | 0 |
| Lakeside | Moderate | inland flooding | 3 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in April–June
The month each of Jackson County’s 16 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Fish Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fish Lake.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Fish Lake.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.