Natural hazards · Gales

Gales, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Gales?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gales to be higher than in 64% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding46%Cold waves16%Drought10%Hail8%Heat waves6%Tornadoes6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Gales 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 above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Gales flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Redwood County.

Disasters that hit Gales

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into GalesDeclared for Redwood County only

Redwood County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Gales

Gales and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Galesmostly inland floodingHigh

Westlinemostly inland floodingHigh

Johnsonvillemostly inland floodingHigh

Springdalemostly inland floodingHigh

Amiretmostly inland floodingHigh

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