Natural hazards · Waubun

Waubun, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Waubun comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2002.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Waubun?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Waubun to be higher than in 19% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding41%Cold waves22%Drought11%Tornadoes8%Strong wind7%Hail6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Waubun faces

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

Inland flooding

41% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Waubun flood?

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

3paid claims since 2002

$15Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20022026

Biggest named events

Winter storm: 1 claim, $833

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Mahnomen County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Waubun

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WaubunDeclared for Mahnomen County only

Mahnomen County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Waubun

Waubun and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Waubunmostly inland floodingVery low

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