Natural hazards · Sterling

Sterling, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sterling 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 Sterling?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sterling to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding38%Cold waves23%Drought11%Tornadoes10%Strong wind9%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Sterling faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Sterling flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Blue Earth County.

Disasters that hit Sterling

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SterlingDeclared for Blue Earth County only

2024

Severe Storms and Flooding

$9K to the Township of Sterling for repairs

2010

Flooding

$6K to the Township of Sterling for repairs

Blue Earth County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Sterling

Sterling and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Shelbymostly inland floodingModerate

Lyramostly inland floodingModerate

Sterlingmostly inland floodingLow

Mapletonmostly inland floodingLow

Delavanmostly inland floodingLow

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