Natural hazards · Solway

Solway, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Solway comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2009. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Solway?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Solway to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding82%Lightning6%Tornadoes6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Solway faces

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

Inland flooding

82% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Solway flood?

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

3paid claims since 2009

$26Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Louis County.

Disasters that hit Solway

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Solway itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Solway.

Brought FEMA money into SolwayDeclared for St. Louis County only

2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$8K to the Township of Solway for repairs

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding

$15K to the Township of Solway for repairs

St. Louis County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Solway

Solway and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Thomsonmostly cold wavesHigh

Brevatormostly inland floodingHigh

Grand Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Solwaymostly inland floodingLow

Hermantownmostly 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. Solway covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Solway’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Solway. 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 Solway total about $1.3M 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.