Natural hazards · Mountain Lake

Mountain Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mountain Lake comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mountain Lake?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Cold waves30%Inland flooding29%Tornadoes12%Hail8%Strong wind7%Drought5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Mountain Lake faces

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

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 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 Mountain Lake flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cottonwood County.

Disasters that hit Mountain Lake

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Mountain Lake itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Mountain Lake.

Brought FEMA money into Mountain LakeDeclared for Cottonwood County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

37 households applied for aid $108K aid approved

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

Around Mountain Lake

Mountain Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mountain Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Mountain Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Midwaymostly cold wavesLow

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