Natural hazards · Spencer

Spencer, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Spencer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Spencer?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Spencer to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding71%Cold waves21%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Spencer faces

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

Inland flooding

71% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Spencer flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Aitkin County.

Disasters that hit Spencer

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SpencerDeclared for Aitkin County only

2018

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$13K to the Township of Spencer for repairs

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding

$55K to the Township of Spencer for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$8K to the Township of Spencer for repairs

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

Around Spencer

Spencer and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Aitkinmostly inland floodingVery high

Spencermostly inland floodingVery high

Kimberlymostly inland floodingVery high

Morrisonmostly inland floodingVery high

Nordlandmostly inland floodingHigh

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