Natural hazards · Selma

Selma, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Selma comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Selma?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Selma to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves30%Inland flooding29%Tornadoes12%Hail8%Strong wind7%Drought5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Selma faces

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

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Selma flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cottonwood County.

Disasters that hit Selma

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SelmaDeclared for Cottonwood County only

Cottonwood County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Selma

Selma and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Adrianmostly inland floodingModerate

Comfreymostly inland floodingModerate

Bashawmostly inland floodingModerate

Selmamostly cold wavesLow

Midwaymostly cold wavesLow

Deltonmostly cold wavesLow

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. Selma covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Selma’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Selma. 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 Selma total about $1.7M 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.