Natural hazards · Benton

Benton, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Benton comes from cold waves, 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 Benton?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Benton to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves46%Inland flooding26%Tornadoes11%Hail8%Strong wind5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Benton faces

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

Cold waves

46% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Benton flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lafayette County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Benton

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BentonDeclared for Lafayette County only

2017

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mud

$9K to the Village of Benton for repairs

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$4K to the Village of Benton for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $4K aid approved

Lafayette County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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