Natural hazards · Whitewater

Whitewater, MN natural hazards

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

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Whitewater to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding68%Tornadoes11%Cold waves11%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Whitewater faces

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

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Whitewater flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Winona County.

Disasters that hit Whitewater

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WhitewaterDeclared for Winona County only

Winona County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Whitewater

Whitewater and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Plainviewmostly inland floodingHigh

Watopamostly inland floodingHigh

Whitewatermostly inland floodingHigh

Mount Vernonmostly inland floodingHigh

Elbamostly inland floodingHigh

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