Natural hazards · Lake

Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 19 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lake?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding60%Tornadoes15%Strong wind8%Cold waves8%Hail6%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 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 Lake flood?

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

19paid claims since 1979

$142Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 9 claims, $112K
Midwest Flooding: 2 claims, $12K
Not a named storm: 1 claim, $677

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. 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: Wabasha County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Lake

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LakeDeclared for Wabasha County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

$112K to the City of Lake for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$102K to the City of Lake for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$42K to the City of Lake for repairs

Wabasha County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Lake

Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Florencemostly inland floodingHigh

Lake Citymostly inland floodingModerate

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