Natural hazards · Big Bend

Big Bend, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Bend comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 2008. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Bend?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Bend to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves20%Tornadoes17%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Big Bend faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 97 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Big Bend flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Big Bend, from FEMA’s records.

6paid claims since 2008

$141Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20082026

Biggest named events

Storm: 4 claims, $81K
2026-04-Flooding: 1 claim, $60K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Waukesha County.

Disasters that hit Big Bend

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big BendDeclared for Waukesha County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $29K aid approved

2025

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Mudslides

4 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

11 households applied for aid $26K aid approved $2K to the Village of Big Bend for repairs

2008

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

$3K to the Village of Big Bend for repairs

2000

Snow

$1K to the Village of Big Bend for repairs

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

Around Big Bend

Big Bend and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Vernonmostly inland floodingLow

Big Bendmostly inland floodingLow

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