Natural hazards · French

French, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in French comes from cold waves, 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 French?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in French to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves59%Inland flooding33%Everything else8%

By hazard

What French faces

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

Cold waves

59% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 French flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. French 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 French

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into FrenchDeclared for St. Louis County only

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

Around French

French and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bearvillemostly inland floodingModerate

Frenchmostly cold wavesModerate

Sturgeonmostly cold wavesModerate

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