Natural hazards · Foster

Foster, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Foster?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Foster to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding43%Cold waves33%Tornadoes7%Hail6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Foster faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

33% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Foster flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Big Stone County.

Disasters that hit Foster

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into FosterDeclared for Big Stone County only

Big Stone County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Foster

Foster and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lakemostly inland floodingHigh

Geneseomostly inland floodingHigh

Fostermostly inland floodingModerate

Browns Valleymostly inland floodingModerate

Priormostly inland floodingModerate

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