Natural hazards · Willow Lake

Willow Lake, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Willow Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Willow Lake?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Willow Lake to be higher than in 40% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding38%Cold waves17%Hail10%Drought10%Strong wind7%Tornadoes7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Willow Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Willow Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Redwood County.

Disasters that hit Willow Lake

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Willow LakeDeclared for Redwood County only

2010

Flooding

$6K to the Township of Willow Lake for repairs

Redwood County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Willow Lake

Willow Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Willow Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

New Avonmostly inland floodingModerate

Waterburymostly inland floodingModerate

Sundownmostly inland floodingLow

Charlestownmostly inland floodingLow

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