Natural hazards · Sand Lake

Sand Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sand Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Sand Lake?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sand Lake to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves39%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Sand Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

39% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Sand Lake flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Sand 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: Itasca County.

Disasters that hit Sand Lake

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Sand LakeDeclared for Itasca County only

2002

Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes

$2K to the Township of Sand Lake for repairs

Itasca County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Sand Lake

Sand Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wirtmostly inland floodingHigh

Lake Jessiemostly inland floodingHigh

Sand Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Maxmostly inland floodingModerate

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