Natural hazards · Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Vernon comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2007. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Vernon?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Vernon to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding68%Tornadoes11%Cold waves11%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Mount Vernon faces

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

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Mount Vernon flood?

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

3paid claims since 2007

$45Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20072026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Winona County.

Disasters that hit Mount Vernon

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Mount Vernon itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Mount Vernon.

Brought FEMA money into Mount VernonDeclared for Winona County only

2000

Severe Storms and Flooding

$4K to the Township of Mount Vernon for repairs

Winona County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Minneiskamostly inland floodingHigh

Mount Vernonmostly inland floodingHigh

Rollingstonemostly inland floodingHigh

Whitewatermostly inland floodingHigh

Nortonmostly inland floodingHigh

Miltonmostly 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. Mount Vernon covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mount Vernon’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Mount Vernon. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Mount Vernon total about $2.5M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.