Natural hazards · Otter Tail

Otter Tail, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Otter Tail comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2011. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Otter Tail?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Otter Tail to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding72%Cold waves10%Tornadoes10%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Otter Tail faces

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

Inland flooding

72% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years 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 Otter Tail flood?

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

3paid claims since 2011

$29Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20112026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Otter Tail County.

Disasters that hit Otter Tail

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Otter TailDeclared for Otter Tail County only

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$4K to the Township of Otter Tail for repairs

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

Around Otter Tail

Otter Tail and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rush Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Otter Tailmostly inland floodingModerate

Ottertailmostly inland floodingModerate

Amormostly inland floodingModerate

Leaf Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Girardmostly inland floodingLow

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. Otter Tail covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Otter Tail’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Otter Tail. 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 Otter Tail total about $3.0M 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.