Natural hazards · Big Flats

Big Flats, WI natural hazards

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

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Flats to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding53%Cold waves22%Tornadoes10%Hail7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Big Flats faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 38 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce 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 Flats flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Adams County.

Disasters that hit Big Flats

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big FlatsDeclared for Adams County only

2002

Severe Storms and Flooding

$40K to the Town of Big Flats for repairs

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

Around Big Flats

Big Flats and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prestonmostly inland floodingHigh

Romemostly inland floodingHigh

Monroemostly inland floodingHigh

Colburnmostly inland floodingHigh

Big Flatsmostly inland floodingHigh

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 Flats covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Big Flats’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Big Flats. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Big Flats total about $1.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.