Natural hazards · Summit

Summit, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Summit comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Summit?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Summit to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding38%Tornadoes22%Strong wind12%Cold waves10%Hail8%Drought8%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Summit 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 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Summit flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Steele County.

Disasters that hit Summit

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Steele County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Summit itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into SummitDeclared for Steele County only

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

Around Summit

Summit and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Berlinmostly inland floodingModerate

Somersetmostly inland floodingModerate

Summitmostly inland floodingLow

Ellendalemostly inland floodingLow

Blooming Prairiemostly 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. Summit covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Summit’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Summit. 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 Summit total about $2.3M 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.