Natural hazards · Watson

Watson, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watson 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 Watson?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watson to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves15%Hail10%Tornadoes7%Drought7%Heat waves7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Watson faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Watson flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chippewa County.

Disasters that hit Watson

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WatsonDeclared for Chippewa County only

Chippewa County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Watson 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 Watson’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Watson. 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.

Watson, MN natural hazards

How exposed is Watson?

What Watson faces

Inland flooding

Cold waves

Hail

Tornadoes

Drought

Heat waves

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Watson flood?

Federal disasters declared here

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby