Natural hazards · Severance

Severance, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Severance comes from inland flooding, 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 Severance?

33
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Severance to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding42%Cold waves13%Strong wind13%Tornadoes13%Drought9%Hail6%Everything else4%
By hazard

What Severance faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places
Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Drought

9% of expected damage
Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 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 Severance flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Severance isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Sibley County.
Disasters that hit Severance

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SeveranceDeclared for Sibley County only
Sibley County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Severance

Severance and the towns around it

Cornish: Low, mostly inland floodingWest Newton: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCairo: Low, mostly inland floodingMoltke: Low, mostly inland floodingAlfsborg: Low, mostly inland floodingWinthrop: Low, mostly inland floodingLafayette: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBismarck: Low, mostly inland floodingMilford: Low, mostly cold wavesRidgely: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFairfax: Low, mostly inland floodingCamp: Low, mostly inland floodingWellington: Low, mostly inland floodingGrafton: Low, mostly inland floodingSeverance: Low, mostly inland flooding SeveranceCornishWest NewtonCairoMoltke
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
West Newtonmostly inland floodingModerate
Severancemostly inland floodingLow
Cornishmostly inland floodingLow
Moltkemostly inland floodingLow
Cairomostly 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. Severance 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 Severance’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Severance. 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.

The porch light’s on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01