Natural hazards · Saratoga

Saratoga, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Saratoga comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 37 claims here since 1982.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Saratoga?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Saratoga to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding61%Cold waves15%Tornadoes13%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Saratoga faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 23 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 Saratoga flood?

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

37paid claims since 1982

$1.4Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 5 claims, $16K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Winona County.

Disasters that hit Saratoga

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Winona County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Saratoga itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into SaratogaDeclared for Winona County only

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

Around Saratoga

Saratoga and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pilot Moundmostly inland floodingVery high

Saratogamostly inland floodingHigh

St. Charlesmostly inland floodingHigh

Fremontmostly inland floodingLow

Elmiramostly 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. Saratoga covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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