Natural hazards · Hammer

Hammer, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hammer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1994.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hammer?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hammer to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.

Inland flooding32%Heat waves29%Cold waves15%Strong wind7%Tornadoes7%Hail6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Hammer faces

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Heat waves

29% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Hammer flood?

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

2paid claims since 1994

$3Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19942026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Hammer 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.

Disasters that hit Hammer

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HammerDeclared for Yellow Medicine County only

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

Around Hammer

Hammer and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Oshkoshmostly inland floodingModerate

Hammermostly inland floodingModerate

Canbymostly inland floodingModerate

Normanmostly inland floodingModerate

Floridamostly inland floodingModerate

Freelandmostly 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. Hammer covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hammer’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Hammer. 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 Hammer total about $2.5M 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.