Natural hazards · Silver Lake

Silver Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Silver Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Silver Lake?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Silver Lake to be higher than in 16% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding29%Cold waves27%Tornadoes19%Strong wind13%Hail7%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Silver Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Silver Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McLeod County.

Disasters that hit Silver Lake

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Silver Lake itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Silver Lake.

Brought FEMA money into Silver LakeDeclared for McLeod County only

2014

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$8K to the City of Silver Lake for repairs

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$1K to the City of Silver Lake for repairs

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$3K to the City of Silver Lake for repairs

2002

Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes

$11K to the City of Silver Lake for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$1K to the City of Silver Lake for repairs

McLeod County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Silver Lake 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 Silver Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Silver Lake. 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.