Natural hazards · Lafayette

Lafayette, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lafayette comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lafayette?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lafayette to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding50%Strong wind13%Cold waves10%Tornadoes10%Hail7%Drought7%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Lafayette faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 13 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 Lafayette flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Nicollet County.

Disasters that hit Lafayette

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LafayetteDeclared for Nicollet County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Nicollet County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Lafayette

Lafayette and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

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