Natural hazards · Seward

Seward, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Seward comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Seward?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Seward to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding39%Hail17%Tornadoes15%Cold waves13%Drought6%Strong wind5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Seward faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 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 Seward flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Nobles County.

Disasters that hit Seward

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SewardDeclared for Nobles County only

Nobles County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Seward

Seward and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bondinmostly inland floodingModerate

Sewardmostly inland floodingModerate

Graham Lakesmostly inland floodingModerate

Bloommostly inland floodingModerate

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