Natural hazards · Freeborn

Freeborn, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Freeborn 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 Freeborn?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Freeborn to be higher than in 40% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding33%Drought25%Tornadoes17%Cold waves9%Strong wind8%Hail6%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Freeborn faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

25% of expected damage

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Freeborn flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Freeborn County.

Disasters that hit Freeborn

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into FreebornDeclared for Freeborn County only

Freeborn County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Freeborn

Freeborn and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Byronmostly inland floodingModerate

Freebornmostly inland floodingModerate

Hartlandmostly inland floodingModerate

Carlstonmostly inland floodingModerate

Dunbarmostly inland floodingLow

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