Natural hazards · Barnes

Barnes, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Barnes comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Barnes?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Barnes to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding54%Cold waves30%Strong wind7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Barnes faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesEarthquakesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Barnes flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bayfield County.

Disasters that hit Barnes

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BarnesDeclared for Bayfield County only

2018

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$75K to the Town of Barnes for repairs

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

$21K to the Town of Barnes for repairs

1999

Wi-Flood-07/20/99

$65K to the Town of Barnes for repairs

Bayfield County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Barnes

Barnes and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lenrootmostly cold wavesModerate

Barnesmostly inland floodingLow

Drummondmostly inland floodingLow

Cablemostly inland floodingLow

Highlandmostly cold wavesLow

Gordonmostly cold wavesVery low

Wascottmostly cold wavesVery low

Deltamostly cold wavesVery low

Hughesmostly cold wavesVery low

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