Natural hazards · Gem Lake

Gem Lake, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Gem Lake?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gem Lake to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves20%Tornadoes17%Heat waves8%Hail8%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Gem Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Gem Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Gem 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: Ramsey County.

Disasters that hit Gem Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Gem LakeDeclared for Ramsey County only

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

Around Gem Lake

Gem Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

White Bearmostly inland floodingLow

Vadnais Heightsmostly inland floodingLow

White Bear Lakemostly inland floodingLow

Gem Lakemostly 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. Gem Lake 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 Gem Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Gem Lake. 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.