Natural hazards · Moscow

Moscow, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Moscow 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 Moscow?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Moscow to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding42%Drought19%Tornadoes16%Cold waves8%Strong wind8%Hail5%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Moscow faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

19% of expected damage

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Moscow flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Freeborn County.

Disasters that hit Moscow

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MoscowDeclared for Freeborn County only

Freeborn County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Moscow

Moscow and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Moscowmostly inland floodingModerate

Ricelandmostly inland floodingModerate

Lansingmostly inland floodingModerate

Newrymostly inland floodingModerate

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