Natural hazards · Waite Park

Waite Park, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Waite Park comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 18 claims here since 1983. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Waite Park?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Waite Park to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding52%Tornadoes19%Cold waves9%Strong wind8%Hail6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Waite Park faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 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 Waite Park flood?

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

18paid claims since 1983

$693Kpaid to owners

6homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Winter storm: 2 claims, $229K
Severe flooding: 2 claims, $158K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stearns County.

Disasters that hit Waite Park

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Waite Park itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Waite Park.

Brought FEMA money into Waite ParkDeclared for Stearns County only

2011

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$2K to the City of Waite Park for repairs

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

Around Waite Park

Waite Park and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

St. Cloudmostly inland floodingModerate

St. Josephmostly inland floodingLow

Waite Parkmostly 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. Waite Park covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Waite Park’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Waite Park. 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 Waite Park total about $3.5M 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.