Natural hazards · Richwood

Richwood, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Richwood comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1998. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Richwood?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Richwood to be higher than in 10% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes16%Cold waves11%Wildfire5%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Richwood faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 13% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 34 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Wildfire

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Richwood flood?

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

3paid claims since 1998

$77Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19982026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Becker County.

Disasters that hit Richwood

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RichwoodDeclared for Becker County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$15K to the Township of Richwood for repairs

2000

Severe Storms and Flooding

$9K to the Township of Richwood for repairs

Becker County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Richwood

Richwood and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Callawaymostly inland floodingModerate

Sugar Bushmostly inland floodingModerate

Holmesvillemostly inland floodingLow

Hamdenmostly inland floodingVery low

Richwoodmostly inland floodingVery low

Detroitmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Richwood covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Richwood’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Richwood. 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 Richwood total about $803K 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.