Natural hazards · Wheeling

Wheeling, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wheeling comes from inland flooding, 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 Wheeling?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wheeling to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding56%Tornadoes16%Strong wind10%Hail8%Cold waves6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Wheeling faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 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 Wheeling flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Wheeling 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 Wheeling

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WheelingDeclared for Rice County only

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

Around Wheeling

Wheeling and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wheelingmostly inland floodingHigh

Richlandmostly inland floodingHigh

Cannon Citymostly inland floodingHigh

Northfieldmostly inland floodingModerate

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