Natural hazards · Thief Lake

Thief Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Thief Lake comes from drought, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Thief Lake?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Thief Lake to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought35%Inland flooding28%Cold waves15%Wildfire15%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Thief Lake faces

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

Drought

35% of expected damage

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Wildfire

15% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Thief Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Thief 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: Marshall County.

Disasters that hit Thief Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Thief LakeDeclared for Marshall County only

Marshall County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Thief Lake

Thief Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Thief Lakemostly droughtHigh

Whitefordmostly droughtHigh

Moose Rivermostly droughtHigh

Comomostly droughtHigh

Rollismostly droughtHigh

Poplar Grovemostly inland floodingHigh

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