Natural hazards · Park Rapids

Park Rapids, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Park Rapids comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1999. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Park Rapids?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Park Rapids to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Cold waves14%Tornadoes9%Strong wind6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Park Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Park Rapids flood?

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

2paid claims since 1999

$7Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 1 claim, $6K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hubbard County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Park Rapids

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Park RapidsDeclared for Hubbard County only

2002

Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes

$6K to the City of Park Rapids for repairs

Hubbard County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Park Rapids

Park Rapids and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Henriettamostly inland floodingModerate

Toddmostly inland floodingLow

Straight Rivermostly inland floodingLow

Park Rapidsmostly 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. Park Rapids covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Park Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Park Rapids. 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 Park Rapids 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.