Natural hazards · Sylvan

Sylvan, MN natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sylvan?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sylvan to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding59%Cold waves24%Tornadoes5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Sylvan 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

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

24% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 60 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Sylvan flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cass County.

Disasters that hit Sylvan

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SylvanDeclared for Cass County only

Cass County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Sylvan

Sylvan and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Fort Ripleymostly inland floodingHigh

Rosingmostly inland floodingHigh

Pillagermostly inland floodingHigh

Sylvanmostly inland floodingModerate

East Gull Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Fairviewmostly inland floodingLow

Maymostly inland floodingLow

Scandia Valleymostly inland floodingLow

Baxtermostly 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. Sylvan 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 Sylvan’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Sylvan. 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.