Natural hazards · Staples

Staples, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Staples comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 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 Staples?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Staples to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding61%Cold waves10%Tornadoes9%Strong wind8%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Staples faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 31 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 Staples flood?

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

2paid claims since 2009

$76Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Todd County.

Disasters that hit Staples

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into StaplesDeclared for Todd County only

2014

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

$11K to the Township of Staples for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$3K to the Township of Staples for repairs

Todd County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Staples

Staples and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Staplesmostly inland floodingModerate

Thomastownmostly inland floodingModerate

Moranmostly inland floodingLow

Bartlettmostly inland floodingLow

Germaniamostly inland floodingLow

Staplesmostly inland floodingVery low

Villardmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Staples covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Staples’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Staples. 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 Staples total about $1.0M 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.