Natural hazards · Green Lake

Green Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Green Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2011. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Green Lake?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Green Lake to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding43%Cold waves24%Strong wind10%Tornadoes10%Hail6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Green Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

24% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 20 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Green Lake flood?

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

1paid claims since 2011

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20112026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Green 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: Kandiyohi County.

Disasters that hit Green Lake

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Green Lake itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Green Lake.

Brought FEMA money into Green LakeDeclared for Kandiyohi County only

2022

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

$58K to the Township of Green Lake for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$7K to the Township of Green Lake for repairs

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

Around Green Lake

Green Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Harrisonmostly inland floodingModerate

New Londonmostly inland floodingLow

Green Lakemostly inland floodingLow

Spicermostly inland floodingLow

Kandiyohimostly inland floodingLow

Dovremostly 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. Green Lake covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Green Lake’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Green Lake. 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 Green Lake total about $1.5M 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.