The Lakes’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in The Lakes comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.
What stands out about The Lakes’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does The Lakes flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in The Lakes. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
The Lakes isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Murray County.How exposed is The Lakes?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Rated higher than 1,743 of the 2,631 Minnesota towns we cover.
The Lakes is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What The Lakes faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Drought
Hail
Tornadoes
Cold waves
Strong wind
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Murray County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching The Lakes itself in FEMA’s records.
Murray County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Get ready for what The Lakes actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
The Lakes and its neighbors
The Lakes has the lowest rating of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lakes | Moderate | inland flooding | 0 |
| Shetek | Moderate | inland flooding | 0 |
| Lake Sarah | Moderate | inland flooding | 10 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in April–June
The month each of Murray County’s 15 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to The Lakes’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to The Lakes.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in The Lakes.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.