Natural hazards · Williams

Williams, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Williams comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Williams?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Williams to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding62%Cold waves27%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Williams faces

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

Inland flooding

62% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Williams flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Aitkin County.

Disasters that hit Williams

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Williams itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Williams.

Brought FEMA money into WilliamsDeclared for Aitkin County only

2018

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$20K to the Township of Williams for repairs

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding

$5K to the Township of Williams for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$6K to the Township of Williams for repairs

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

Around Williams

Williams and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Williamsmostly inland floodingHigh

Idunmostly inland floodingHigh

McGrathmostly inland floodingHigh

Wagnermostly inland floodingModerate

Plinymostly inland floodingModerate

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