Natural hazards · Wisconsin

Wisconsin, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wisconsin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wisconsin?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wisconsin to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves16%Hail13%Tornadoes10%Drought8%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Wisconsin faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Wisconsin flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jackson County.

Disasters that hit Wisconsin

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WisconsinDeclared for Jackson County only

Jackson County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Wisconsin

Wisconsin and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jacksonmostly inland floodingModerate

Wisconsinmostly inland floodingModerate

Petersburgmostly inland floodingModerate

Des Moinesmostly inland floodingModerate

Enterprisemostly inland floodingModerate

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