Natural hazards · Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grand Rapids comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1983. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Grand Rapids?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Grand Rapids to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves46%Inland flooding39%Strong wind6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Grand Rapids faces

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

Cold waves

46% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Grand Rapids flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Grand Rapids, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 1983

$5Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Itasca County.

Disasters that hit Grand Rapids

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Grand Rapids itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Grand Rapids.

Brought FEMA money into Grand RapidsDeclared for Itasca County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Itasca County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cohassetmostly inland floodingModerate

Harrismostly cold wavesModerate

La Prairiemostly cold wavesLow

Arbomostly cold wavesLow

Grand Rapidsmostly cold wavesLow

Colerainemostly cold wavesLow

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. Grand Rapids covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Grand Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Grand Rapids. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Grand Rapids total about $8.3M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.