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 very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Williams?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Williams to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding83%Cold waves6%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

83% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about 18 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: Lake of the Woods County.

Disasters that hit Williams

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WilliamsDeclared for Lake of the Woods County only

Lake of the Woods County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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 City 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.