Natural hazards · Kelso

Kelso, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kelso comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2001.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Kelso?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kelso to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves14%Strong wind14%Tornadoes11%Hail6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Kelso faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Strong wind

14% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 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 Kelso flood?

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

2paid claims since 2001

$6Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20012026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 2 claims, $6K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sibley County.

Disasters that hit Kelso

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into KelsoDeclared for Sibley County only

Sibley County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Kelso

Kelso and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Kelsomostly inland floodingModerate

Hendersonmostly inland floodingModerate

Arlingtonmostly inland floodingModerate

Lake Prairiemostly inland floodingModerate

Sibleymostly 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. Kelso covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Kelso’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Kelso. 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 Kelso total about $3.5M 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.