Natural hazards · Wells

Wells, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wells comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wells?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wells to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Tornadoes12%Strong wind7%Hail6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Wells faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Wells flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rice County.

Disasters that hit Wells

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WellsDeclared for Rice County only

Rice County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Wells

Wells and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wellsmostly inland floodingVery high

Shieldsvillemostly inland floodingVery high

Warsawmostly inland floodingHigh

Cannon Citymostly inland floodingHigh

Faribaultmostly inland floodingHigh

Forestmostly inland floodingModerate

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