Natural hazards · Sauk Rapids

Sauk Rapids, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sauk Rapids comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2016.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sauk Rapids?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sauk Rapids to be higher than in 54% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding55%Tornadoes16%Cold waves13%Strong wind7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Sauk Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 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 Sauk Rapids flood?

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

1paid claims since 2016

$5Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20162026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Sauk 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: Benton County.

Disasters that hit Sauk Rapids

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Sauk RapidsDeclared for Benton County only

Benton County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Sauk Rapids

Sauk Rapids and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Le Saukmostly inland floodingVery high

Sartellmostly inland floodingHigh

Sauk Rapidsmostly inland floodingModerate

St. Cloudmostly inland floodingModerate

Sauk Rapidsmostly inland floodingModerate

Mindenmostly 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. Sauk Rapids covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sauk Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sauk 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 Sauk Rapids total about $2.9M 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.