Natural hazards · Lowell

Lowell, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lowell comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lowell?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lowell to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding54%Cold waves25%Drought8%Hail5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Lowell faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Lowell flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Polk County.

Disasters that hit Lowell

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LowellDeclared for Polk County only

Polk County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Lowell

Lowell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Fannymostly inland floodingVery high

Lowellmostly inland floodingVery high

Fishermostly inland floodingVery high

Crookstonmostly inland floodingVery high

Andovermostly inland floodingVery high

Crookstonmostly inland floodingHigh

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