Natural hazards · Ortonville

Ortonville, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ortonville comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 36 claims here since 1997. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ortonville?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ortonville to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves40%Inland flooding39%Tornadoes8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Ortonville faces

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

Cold waves

40% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Ortonville flood?

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

36paid claims since 1997

$362Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19972026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 11 claims, $46K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Big Stone County.

Disasters that hit Ortonville

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OrtonvilleDeclared for Big Stone County only

2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$12K to the City of Ortonville for repairs

2022

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$11K to the City of Ortonville for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$9K to the City of Ortonville for repairs

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$41K to the City of Ortonville for repairs

2010

Flooding

$8K to the City of Ortonville for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$34K to the City of Ortonville for repairs

Big Stone County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Ortonville

Ortonville and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Big Stonemostly cold wavesModerate

Big Stone Citymostly cold wavesModerate

Ortonvillemostly cold wavesModerate

Big Stonemostly 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. Ortonville covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ortonville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Ortonville. 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 Ortonville total about $1.6M 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.