Natural hazards · Montevideo

Montevideo, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Montevideo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 114 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Montevideo?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Montevideo to be higher than in 64% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves18%Tornadoes9%Heat waves8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Montevideo faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Montevideo flood?

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

114paid claims since 1978

$1.8Mpaid to owners

6homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 33 claims, $195K
Not a named storm: 3 claims, $14K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 20% off flood insurance. Montevideo is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 6) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Chippewa County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

90flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

2flood-prone homes bought out and moved

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Montevideo

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MontevideoDeclared for Chippewa County only

Chippewa County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Montevideo

Montevideo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Stony Runmostly inland floodingHigh

Spartamostly inland floodingHigh

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