Natural hazards · Mendota

Mendota, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mendota?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mendota to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding57%Tornadoes18%Strong wind12%Cold waves6%Hail5%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Mendota faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Mendota flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dakota County.

Disasters that hit Mendota

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MendotaDeclared for Dakota County only

Dakota County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Mendota

Mendota and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mendotamostly inland floodingModerate

Mendota Heightsmostly inland floodingLow

St. Paulmostly 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. Mendota 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 Mendota’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mendota. 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.