Natural hazards · Granite Falls

Granite Falls, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Granite Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 113 claims here since 1978. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Granite Falls?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Granite Falls to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.

Inland flooding42%Heat waves27%Cold waves14%Tornadoes6%Strong wind5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Granite Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Heat waves

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Granite Falls flood?

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

113paid claims since 1978

$1.7Mpaid to owners

10homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 28 claims, $325K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yellow Medicine County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

28flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

1flood-prone homes bought out and moved

1storm safe rooms built

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Granite Falls

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Granite FallsDeclared for Yellow Medicine County only

2022

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$429K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$56K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2014

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$19K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$25K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2010

Flooding

$107K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$15K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$589K to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

2000

Severe Storms and Flooding

$1.4M to the City of Granite Falls for repairs

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

Around Granite Falls

Granite Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Granite Fallsmostly inland floodingHigh

Minnesota Fallsmostly inland floodingHigh

Stony Runmostly inland floodingHigh

Granite Fallsmostly inland floodingModerate

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. Granite Falls 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 Granite Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Granite Falls. 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.