Natural hazards · Highwater

Highwater, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Highwater 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 Highwater?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding29%Cold waves25%Tornadoes12%Hail11%Drought9%Strong wind8%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Highwater faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

9% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Highwater flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cottonwood County.

Disasters that hit Highwater

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HighwaterDeclared for Cottonwood County only

Cottonwood County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Highwater

Highwater and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lambertonmostly inland floodingLow

Highwatermostly inland floodingLow

Annmostly inland floodingLow

Stordenmostly inland floodingLow

Germantownmostly 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. Highwater 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 Highwater’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Highwater. 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.