Natural hazards · St. Olaf

St. Olaf, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Olaf comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Olaf?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Olaf to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves19%Tornadoes12%Everything else13%

By hazard

What St. Olaf faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 St. Olaf flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Otter Tail County.

Disasters that hit St. Olaf

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into St. OlafDeclared for Otter Tail County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$4K to the Township of St. Olaf for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$5K to the Township of St. Olaf for repairs

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

Around St. Olaf

St. Olaf and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pelican Lakemostly inland floodingLow

Tumulimostly inland floodingLow

St. Olafmostly inland floodingLow

Tordenskjoldmostly inland floodingLow

Eagle Lakemostly 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. St. Olaf 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 St. Olaf’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of St. Olaf. 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.