Natural hazards · Sverdrup

Sverdrup, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sverdrup comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2001. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sverdrup?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sverdrup to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding59%Cold waves18%Tornadoes13%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Sverdrup faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 22 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Sverdrup flood?

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

4paid claims since 2001

$30Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20012026

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Sverdrup 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 Sverdrup

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SverdrupDeclared for Otter Tail County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$11K to the Township of Sverdrup for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$30K to the Township of Sverdrup for repairs

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

Around Sverdrup

Sverdrup and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Aurdalmostly inland floodingLow

Mainemostly inland floodingLow

Tordenskjoldmostly inland floodingLow

Sverdrupmostly inland floodingLow

Underwoodmostly inland floodingLow

Evertsmostly 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. Sverdrup covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sverdrup’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Sverdrup. 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 Sverdrup total about $1.7M 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.