Natural hazards · Malta

Malta, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Malta comes from cold waves, 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 Malta?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Malta to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves36%Inland flooding33%Hail11%Tornadoes8%Strong wind5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Malta faces

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

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 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 Malta flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Big Stone County.

Disasters that hit Malta

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MaltaDeclared for Big Stone County only

Big Stone County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Malta

Malta and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Maltamostly cold wavesLow

Almondmostly cold wavesLow

Otreymostly cold wavesLow

Moonshinemostly cold wavesLow

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