Natural hazards · Sunfish Lake

Sunfish Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sunfish Lake 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 Sunfish Lake?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sunfish Lake to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding40%Tornadoes25%Strong wind14%Cold waves10%Hail6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Sunfish Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Strong wind

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Sunfish Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dakota County.

Disasters that hit Sunfish Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Sunfish LakeDeclared for Dakota County only

Dakota County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Sunfish Lake

Sunfish Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sunfish Lakemostly inland floodingLow

Inver Grove Heightsmostly inland floodingLow

West St. Paulmostly tornadoesVery 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. Sunfish Lake 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 Sunfish Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sunfish Lake. 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.