Natural hazards · Bear Lake

Bear Lake, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bear Lake comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low 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 Bear Lake?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bear Lake to be higher than in 15% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves38%Inland flooding35%Tornadoes11%Hail6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Bear Lake faces

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

Cold waves

38% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 21 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Bear Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Bear 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: Barron County.

Disasters that hit Bear Lake

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Bear LakeDeclared for Barron County only

2000

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$13K to the Town of Bear Lake for repairs

Barron County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and tornadoes.

Around Bear Lake

Bear Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Saronamostly cold wavesVery low

Stanfoldmostly cold wavesVery low

Bear Lakemostly cold wavesVery low

Lakelandmostly cold wavesVery low

Oak Grovemostly 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. Bear 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 Bear Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Bear 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.