Natural hazards · Brookfield

Brookfield, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brookfield comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 52 claims here since 1979. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brookfield?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding49%Cold waves23%Tornadoes16%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Brookfield faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

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 Brookfield flood?

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

52paid claims since 1979

$764Kpaid to owners

10homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Storm: 9 claims, $222K
2025-08-MilwaukeeMetro-Flood: 7 claims, $121K
March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $4K

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. Brookfield 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Brookfield

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrookfieldDeclared for Waukesha County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

52 households applied for aid $203K aid approved

2025

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

551 households applied for aid $3.6M aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

322 households applied for aid $700K aid approved $221K to the City of Brookfield for repairs

2008

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

$81K to the City of Brookfield for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $102 aid approved

2000

Snow

$29K to the City of Brookfield for repairs

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

Around Brookfield

Brookfield and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elm Grovemostly inland floodingLow

Wauwatosamostly cold wavesVery low

Menomonee Fallsmostly inland floodingVery low

Brookfieldmostly inland floodingVery low

Butlermostly inland floodingVery low

Brookfieldmostly inland floodingVery low

New Berlinmostly inland floodingVery low

West Allismostly 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. Brookfield covers 11 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Brookfield’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Brookfield. 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 Brookfield total about $14.9M 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.